The 75th Annual Hunger Games
by Zulera301
Summary: Ridden with guilt over failing to protect her sister a year ago, Katniss Everdeen goes all out in an audacious move against her better judgment, volunteering herself for the 75th Hunger Games. Surrounded not by former victors, but by men and women much older, smarter, and stronger than her, Katniss discovers whether or not she has what it takes to survive the 3rd Quarter Quell.
1. Chapter 1: The 75th Annual Hunger Games

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Welcome to the 75th Annual Hunger Games! Those who have read my other fanfics will know that they are set in an alternate universe, where Katniss did not volunteer for Prim at the reapings. However, they also mention that Katniss is still a victor, and that she volunteered the year after. This is the story that explains that, and is obviously a direct sequel of "The 74th Annual Hunger Games." This tale intends to capture the story of how Katniss deals with the loss of her sister and friend, and why she's so distant and closed off from everyone. There is also a reference to a certain character from one of my other stories. Kudos to those who spot her. With that said, this story will probably update sporadically, or once a week for the time being. It may later receive an M rating unlike my other fics because I feel it will probably be darker and perhaps a bit more suggestive. Perhaps that will remain to be seen though._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **PART I: THE QUARTER QUELL**

 **CHAPTER 1: The 75th Annual Hunger Games**

75 years—it had been 75 years since the Dark Days—75 years since the sadistic Hunger Games had been instated in Panem. These games and the isolation between the districts were what kept them apart—kept them as enemies to one another to distract them from the real enemy.

While every district was technically a 'loser' in the aftermath of the 1st Rebellion, the games themselves had distinct winners and losers. District 12 was among the losers of the games, with only two other districts being able to say their victor count was nearly as low.

To a certain Katniss Everdeen, the number of victors didn't matter at all. What mattered was that these were innocent children that had were being forced to their deaths, and to murder each other. Their only crime was being picked at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Of course, this year, the Capitol was stirring with excitement like they did every 25 years since the Dark Days. This year was another of the dreaded Quarter Quells, where the Capitol would twist the rules for add intrigue and surprise into the games—but also to ensure that the districts continued living in fear of their powerful and 'benevolent' Capitol overlords.

Katniss thought little of the announcement when it came. It was mandatory viewing, which meant that her time out hunting in the woods across the fence was limited—ergo, probably not going to happen today. This meant an hour or two of Capitol nonsense and what have you, only for 5 minutes of meaningful screen time from President Coriolanus Snow as he announced the rule change for this year's Annual Hunger Games.

Katniss only really paid attention when she saw him step up with the little yellow envelope in his hands.

" _This year…"_ he continued what had otherwise been a somewhat lengthy speech that the Capitol citizens were surely gushing over, while most of the people in the more rebellious districts such as District 8 and District 12 were just rolling their eyes. _"To remind the districts that it is not just the children who suffer when the Capitol is defied… the tributes reaped for the 75_ _th_ _Annual Hunger Games will be chosen from any and all citizens between the ages of 17 and 25 years. Happy Hunger Games… and May the Odds be Ever in your Favor…"_

There was a ceremonial fanfare and a few other closing words, but otherwise, that was the name of the game, and Katniss shrugged it off. She was only 17, and so was not likely to get picked, being at the bottom of the age bracket. Her mother would have had to have been 8 years old to have Katniss if she was still 25, and so her age kept her far from being eligible.

What hurt the most though, was thinking that had her sister Primrose not been reaped the previous year, she would have been spared a year like this. Day after day, Katniss was haunted by her reaction—an attempt at preventing Prim from being reaped gone sour. Why had she been unable to simply bellow the words 'I volunteer!'?

She took at least a tiny bit of solace in knowing that Prim's killer had not become the victor of the games, but in truth she had no real idea what to think about Clove Kazera. Perhaps in a couple of years when District 2 inevitably produced another victor, they would meet again except with Clove as a mentor. Time would tell.

The next few days flew by without anything out of the blue really happening. The power went out a couple of times, Katniss did closely evade electrocution once as she was jumping the fence to go out and hunt, and she and her friend Gale Hawthorne scored big at the Hob with their catches the day before the Reaping Ceremony. She wondered if any of the younger visitors of this place would get chosen for the Quarter Quell tomorrow, but she was too busy worrying about her own survival, and occasionally ensuring that her mother would still be aware enough to handle herself for the next few days.

Reaping Day felt like almost any other one that Katniss had been to. This would be the 6th one she attended, and her penultimate one if she was not chosen.

The bubbly escort lady, Effie Trinket, stepped up to the stage and welcomed everyone to the reaping for the 75th Annual Hunger Games before they went through the usual proecdures and presentations as was standard protocol. There was a rerun of the Quarter Quell announcement to reaffirm that tributes would be chosen from a different age group this time, but otherwise it was not much different from the 74th Reaping except that the people standing in the "tribute pool" area were aged 17-25 instead of 12-18. Shortly after the presentations and propaganda videos had ended, Effie went into a little monologue of her own courtesy of the Capitol, before finally getting to the part that everyone dreaded.  
 _"And as always… ladies first…"_ Effie's hand swirled around in the large glass bowl, before drawing out a name. To Katniss' relief, it was not hers—but seeing the woman in question was a different story.

" _Naisha Togisala!"_

A small, dark-skinned woman with loose black curls began to slowly meander towards the stage. There was a young boy in her arms, that she handed off to another woman as she wiped her face with her arm. The unusual way this woman walked combined with the largeness of her belly was enough for Katniss to tell something very obvious about this woman—she was several months pregnant. There was no way she'd last more than a few minutes against other armed and dangerous killers. Even if she did, that pregnancy would get to her. No… Katniss could not just stand idly by and watch a helpless woman go to her death, and so, perhaps even to her own surprise, she found bold words escaping her lips.

"I VOLUNTEER!"

Everyone froze, turning to face her, which made Katniss suddenly feel as if she was butt-naked, what with the way people were skeptically staring at her. Even the Peacekeepers stared, a few surely even raising their eyebrows from behind those black visors on their white and grey helmets.

"I volunteer as tribute!"  
There was no distinct protocol for volunteering in District 12, since it was a rare occurrence indeed. While in Districts like 1 and 2 they had to have limitations set in place due to so many potential volunteers, such a thing in District 12 was such a rarity and so unheard of that when Katniss volunteered, no one even questioned it. Naisha, the woman whom she had volunteered for, was beside herself with gratitude and relief, and even threw her arms around Katniss, who, perhaps still from the shock of what she had just said and done, embraced the woman before letting her go.

" _And now… for the boys…"_

Effie stepped a little to her right and rummaged her hand through a bowl of boy's (well, young men's) names before fishing one out.

" _Levi Dryden!"_

An olive-skinned young man with a similar color of hair and skin to Katniss, trudged up to the stage. Katniss couldn't exactly say that she knew this fellow, but she had sympathy for him if nothing else.

"Ladies and Gentlemen…" Effie beamed, taking Katniss' hand in one of her own and Levi's in the other, "Our tributes representing District 12 in the 75th Annual Hunger Games… Levi Dryden and Katniss Everdeen! May the odds be ever in your favor!"

It seemed that now was the time for her to say goodbye to her mother. Hopefully Mrs. Everdeen would be able to fend for herself without Katniss supporting her the entire way. There was only so much she could do overall, but with her now about to be miles away in a death arena, her options had now all but been eliminated.

"It's all on you now, mom." She warned, "I'm not going to be here to bring back game or goods anymore… it might be a few weeks—it might be forever. Do you understand me?"  
Katniss' mother simply nodded blankly, that glazed expression of hers not leaving her face for a moment. Katniss could kind of understand where she was coming from, what with first losing her husband three years ago, and then losing her youngest child the previous year; but even Katniss was hurt about that one. There was nothing she could do about it now though except ensure that her volunteering for Naisha Togisala was not in vain.

It was not long afterwards that Katniss and Levi were escorted by Peacekeepers out to a car that took them to the nearby train station. Their goodbyes had been said, and this therefore marked the beginning of the end. One of them—perhaps both of them—would never be seeing home again, and if the other one was fortunate enough to survive… they would still never be the same as they once were. After all, everyone knew that the winning the Hunger Games meant fame and fortune…  
…while losing meant certain death.


	2. Chapter 2: A Drive to Survive

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Things happened last week, so I apologize for the delay. Remember that this is an AU, but while the story detailing the 74th Hunger Games does exist separately from this one, it is not required to read it to understand this one. Any important details will be clarified in this volume._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 2: A Drive to Survive**

The ride to the Capitol was fairly eventless in Katniss' book. Their mentor Haymitch drank himself into a usual stupor, although incidentally, it was Levi that was trying to get everyone together. Katniss seemed utterly indifferent about the situation, slipping into her compartment and shimmying out of her reaping dress before flopping on the bed and crashing, not even taking the time to remove her shoes.

She was tired, and frankly, figured that she was going to be going through this hellhole alone. She knew a lot about herself, and among these many flaws, Katniss was well-aware that she was simply not a very likable person. She was distant and she was very hostile. Her sister had died the year before and her mother was still a dumbfounded wreck from losing her husband 6 years back in a tragic accident that even Katniss still had traumatic flashbacks about now and again.

It was later in the evening when she woke back up, staggering on her feet and only then realizing that she hadn't kicked her shoes off. She sat up and waited for her vision to clear before kicking them off and looking at her form in a large mirror. Perhaps the Capitol's vanity even extended a little to their tributes.

A dirty, slouched, darkish-skinned woman with a slightly messy braid and a sullen expression glared back at her, reminding her that she did carry a slight advantage over the Capitol. There was no one really left except perhaps Gale Hawthorne that Katniss even worried about anymore. Guilt from the year before where she had lost her beloved sister Prim, as well as Peeta, the boy who had practically idolized her without her even becoming aware of it until too late, racked her body. It hurt much more now than it did then, and for a moment, the corners of her mouth stretched outward and downward before she collected herself and got dressed in something a bit more casual.

In fine, Katniss felt rather tempered after all of this, as if she was a chunk of ore being put through a refinery. She was burned, beaten, and shattered, before emerging as a more refined version of her old self. Well—it seemed that way, at least a little. Katniss simply felt more hostile and ruthless than before, and figured that she was going to be relentless when the games finally started. She kicked back and flipped on a television to watch recaps of the games, focusing not on Clove Kazera, the girl from District 2 that had won that year, but on Rue Keniye, the cunning little girl from District 11 that had outsmarted almost all of the other tributes. It took Clove and her partner Cato to finally take her down after 3 days of hunting her. She was watching that girl's tricks, wanting to get an idea of what she might be able to do in these games. Obviously she would want to get herself a bow instead of knives, but otherwise the concept would be the same. She wanted a stealthy approach, out of sight and out of mind.

A little more research later, and Katniss found exactly what she hoped to find—the 35th Annual Hunger Games, where a tiny little "lone wolf" girl from District 2 had won by stealthily using the forest and foliage to her advantage, and she had sniped off nearly a dozen tributes on her own. That was what she needed to do—or she needed to improvise if the arena was not set up that way. That was the part that she would have to leave to chance.

She stepped back out into the train to find where Haymitch and maybe Levi were. She found the latter trying to nudge the former awake. She stepped in and decided to get things done the easy way. Grabbing a cup of water, she threw it at Haymitch's face. Just as she suspected, he jumped up, flailing his arms and roaring in surprise, before collecting his bearings and realizing that he was not under attack. He blinked and saw the tributes in front of him.

"Thanks for the rude awakening…" he grunted, reaching for a nearby flask and draining it. "I suppose since I'm awake now, I can say a few things. What do you want?"  
"The same thing any other tribute ever wants," Katniss asserted, "to survive; to go home."

"You wanna survive?" Haymitch sighed, leaning back, "learn the tricks. Know your enemies. Watch the other tributes in the training center. Learn what they're good at and what they avoid—and don't show off your own talents until your private session. You know about those, right?"  
"More or less," Levi shrugged, "they score you from 1 to 12 based on how threatening they think you are, right?"

"More or less," Haymitch nodded, "apparently you can get a zero if you don't show up. I think there was a kid from District 5 or something that did that one year… she didn't last long."  
"So score high then," Katniss assumed aloud, figuring that if the tributes went after low-scoring kids, that the higher-scoring ones generally were treated more carefully.

Not necessarily," Haymitch interjected, "sometimes if you score too much higher than the others, they'll gang up on you because they think you're the biggest threat. It's a difficult but healthy balance."  
"Got it." Levi nodded, "although… how much did you drink?"  
"Enough to stay calm, but not enough to inhibit my judgment," Haymitch didn't even skip a beat. "the biggest difference that you all are going to have to just figure out on your own, is how a slew of young adults decides to play the game. Katniss, you were the only one under 21 that got reaped or volunteered, so you will probably have to play it up harder."  
"I'm not a people person," Katniss shook her head. Before she opened her mouth to continue, Haymitch interrupted her.

"And that's going to need to change if you want any sponsorships against these other men and women, kid." He warned, "Honestly, the choice is yours whether or not you want to live. There's only so much I can do to help you. Speaking of which, pass me that little bottle with the orange stuff in it."

Katniss handed him the bottle without giving much thought to what might have been in it. Apparently it was safe enough, because Haymitch started drinking it, but otherwise nothing unusual happened.

Katniss was fairly motivated by the notion of survival. Not that she felt like she had much to keep living for back in '12, but her father didn't give birth to a quitter. Not even Primrose had been a quitter, and perhaps because of that, she had made it to 6th place last year.  
But 6th place was not good enough. The Hunger Games were a grim reminder that 2nd place was really just 1st-loser, because losing meant certain death.

Katniss dismissed herself right as she heard the sound of a woman in high heels coming, knowing that it was Effie. That woman's giddiness was enough to scare anyone away, Katniss figured, and solitude was one of the few things left in this world for Katniss to cherish. She could hear the cheery, high-pitched voice belonging to Effie followed by the lower grunt of Haymitch, and occasionally even Levi said one thing or another. Katniss shut all that out as she flipped on the TV again, this time for a different purpose—it was time to see what she was up against, by watching the Reaping recaps.

As each tribute was called (or volunteered, as they often did in Districts 1, 2, and (this year at least) a couple from 5 and 3), a little profile blurb came up on the screen. Haymitch had been right about one thing—everyone that had been reaped was either 21 or older except her, at the tender age of 17. Not that she felt like that was going to stop her—in fact, she was already calculating how this could work to her advantage. Naisha Togisala had been weak—if nothing else, because of her pregnancy. None of these tributes, all of whom were bigger and/or older than her, gave off that vibe. To her, that meant they were a threat to her own safety, which in turn meant that she would have to eliminate as many of them as possible before they took her down. She strongly doubted that she would be able to make any friends anyways, because that was just not how she worked.

Katniss had taken her first step down the lonely trail, with nothing to truly look forward to if she made it home other than being able to say that she was alive. Weighing her social ineptitude against the notion of friends and allies, Katniss realized that gaining any alliances for her would be difficult because of her hostile personality and her fiercely independent streak. With those two traits taking the forefront of her character, she already knew that she was going to have to be alone. It would save her from future heartbreak anyways—after all, there could only ever be one victor…


	3. Chapter 3: The Likeminded Strategists

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _This story might update every other Tuesday instead, simply because of life and other things going on. Of course, if I get ahead that will change, but I have to put extra thought into this story considering that I am utilizing Katniss' character in such a way where she is already very emotionally scarred and jaded, all while retaining elements of her canon personality. That said, she's totally planning on getting things done here._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 3: The Likeminded Strategists**

A looming sense of dread hovered over Katniss as time passed,with the train zooming ever onward towards its destination. The ominous feeling failed to recede, and only worsened as they disappeared into a long tunnel that went clear through a mountain. This meant they were getting close—and that the Capitol would soon come into view.

Like many other tributes before her, Katniss found herself staring in slight awe and wonder at the sheer might and majesty of the Capitol. She had mixed feelings about entering the heart of the very region that was responsible for the death of her sister, but she had little choice in the matter. She was going to try and go through the motions, and try to survive. She wasn't a great actress, but her fate was out of her hands.

"May the odds be ever in your favor," Levi sat near Katniss as they gazed at the magnificent Capitol that had just come into view. Katniss simply grunted and gave a brief nod.

She knew right away that she would not enjoy her stay here. Everything was too bright; too colorful. It all seemed too pretentious and artificial to her. The greens and browns of her home were replaced by greys and pinks and blues and other painfully striking colors.

"Chins up, smiles on!" Effie beamed at them as the train pulled to a halt. Katniss caught a few glimpses out the window of eager crowds practically swelling with anticipation. So first they had to be paraded through the enormous train station like cattle, and then paraded through the Capitol Square all dressed up and fancy?

"Yeah, I can think of about 230 things I'd rather be doing right now." She mumbled under her breath.

"Don't we all," Levi muttered, figuring that any sensible person would rather be at home than buttered up for an inevitable death tournament.

Katniss's lips remained defiantly sealed once they stepped off the train though. Despite the cheering throngs of crowds that were waving and chanting at them, Katniss ignored them, and sidestepped a few that tried to touch her or high five her. At least two different hands had grabbed her butt, causing her to spin around in place to try and pinpoint the perpetrator. How she wished she had her bow right now. She would happily put arrows through at least a couple dozen of these overly colorful chanting hooligans. This was going to be along, stressful week. The arena couldn't be this tiresome, surely.

Katniss mentally made it a goal to try and not get to know any of the tributes too well. She was dealing with enough heartbreak from the year before after the loss of Peeta Mellark and her sister Prim. She did not need to lose any more friends, and her logic dictated that she couldn't lose any friends this year if she didn't make any. Instead, she went straight to Haymitch for advice while she waited for the evening to arrive so she could be dressed up for the chariot parade.

"My advice is simple," the old mentor grunted, "stay alive, and don't get killed."  
"Gee," Katniss rolled her eyes, her mouth practically dripping with vicious sarcasm, "I don't know how I would have lasted more than 38 seconds without that profound knowledge."

"My point, kid," Haymitch nearly interrupted her, "is that you're the youngest one by a good 4 or 5 years here, and to the other tributes, that's going to paint a target on your back unless you can prove to them that you're half decent at something. Please tell me you've got some talents besides an amazing singing voice or something."  
"How did you—" Katniss began, before shaking her head. She knew that he had to have just been guessing about that, but he wouldn't be the first one to say that she had a beautiful singing voice much like her late father had had. Luckily for her, that was far from her only talent.

"I'm a pretty damn good shot with the bow." She admitted, "I take it you don't exactly want me to be humble here, do you?"  
"Girl, I don't think you've got half the charisma required to humbly dismiss a compliment even if you tried." Haymitch chuckled, taking a shot from a nearby flask. "but at the same time, you might not need to. You're good-looking, and I'm sure the Capitol can help enhance that when they clean you up, but otherwise, you've got about as much charm as a dead slug."  
"And so how is this going to help me?" Katniss demanded, "I didn't come here to be mocked by some old bastard drunk off his ass; I came here to learn something from a guy who has done this shit before so I don't end up as buzzard food. You're keeping it from me, and I'm not taking that as an answer."

"You're a fireball, that's for sure," Haymitch quipped, "let me have a bit more to drink first."

"I think you've had enough," Katniss insisted. Haymitch merely laughed, utterly unfazed until Katniss flat-out kicked the flask from his hands. "Yeah, I'm not a people person, and I don't intend to get to know these other tributes, Haymitch. I'm going to have to kill them all, and so I don't exactly want to fall head over heels for one of them, alright?"

There was a moment of silence as Haymitch's eyes met Katniss', the younger girl seething as she stood in front of the tipsy man, who could see the fiery passion that composed Katniss Everdeen.

"You've got to be ruthless then," he sat up straight, putting his hands forward, "no alliances for you—you're too dangerous. You need to let the others—as well as the Capitol—know that you are a threat. It will make them act more cautious around you."  
"Is that what I want though?" Katniss pulled up a chair, sitting down and making herself comfortable, shedding her coat on the back of the chair to reveal a dark grey tank top that showed off a pair of lithe, toned arms.

"Well," Haymitch glanced around in vain for another flask, and sighed, "you've already proven that you're a right shitty actress, and so I don't think you could pretend to be weak and unassuming. You need to give off a dangerous vibe, and need to be light on your feet. Either they're going to want to eliminate you early because they think you're an easy kill, or they're going to want to eliminate you early because they acknowledge that you are a valid threat."  
"So either way I lose then?" Katniss' eyes narrowed.

"The odds are stacked against you, kid." Haymitch warned, "But… then again, the odds were stacked against your sister and she lasted a long time. The odds were stacked against Rue, and it took them 4 days to finally catch her. I frankly think that if Rue Keniye had had a stronger ranged weapon, she could have offed Clove Kazera fairly easily."

"So… you want me to be a lone fighter like Leto Irizari then?" Katniss raised an eyebrow. A smile slowly appeared on Haymitch's face as he heard that name.

"When did you watch the 35th Hunger Games?" He asked.

"On the train coming here," Katniss retorted. "Obviously I can't determine the arena, but if I can, I want to do something like that—minus the creepy songs."

Haymitch scratched his stubble before looking over Katniss' lithe form.

"That seems doable," Haymitch grunted, "we've got a week to figure this out, and so I'll definitely be getting back to you on that one."

"And what until then?" Katniss tilted her head,

"Stick around," Haymitch leaned back and stretched, crossing his arms behind his head, "your stylist will be coming around in a few. He's actually fairly good at what he does, if last year's costumes are anything to go by, anyways."

Katniss didn't exactly like the idea of a man seeing her naked and then dressing her, but she had little choice in the matter. She did remember Peeta and Prim dressed in blazing fiery outfits that had in fact wowed the crowd, but Katniss wasn't looking to wow anyone, and she felt like she had just discussed this with Haymitch. She decided to clarify.

"Am I trying to wow Capitol sponsors, or am I trying to do this singlehandedly?"

"Your stylist Cinna will play a large factor in that," he explained, "but I think if you play the solo fighter and start kicking ass and taking names, that sponsors will come to you naturally—and you can bet your life on knowing that I'll be sending them to you when you need them."

"Good to know you're on my side then," Katniss quipped, "makes me glad that you're not coming into the games with me."  
"We can't all be ruthless and sadistic all the time." Haymitch chortled. "I like you though, kid. I want to see you come out of there not only because I'm sick to death of mentoring, but because you're a fighter—you have a will to survive that I haven't seen in decades. I hope it takes you far."  
"I hope it takes me home." Katniss's face straightened, before she grew silent. The sound of Effie's heels approaching them from the hallway drew nearer, and Katniss could only guess what that meant—it was time to meet this Cinna fellow, and see if he was as skilled at what he did as Haymitch claimed.


	4. Chapter 4: The Girl on Fire

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Enter Cinna. this whole part is sort of like a blend between his advice to Katniss in "The Hunger Games", versus in "Catching Fire". Also, we get to catch a glimpse of some of Katniss' opposition. The kid's got some snark behind her words. That whole 'not very personable' thing of hers will take her places-not all of which are necessarily good._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 4: The Girl on Fire**

Effie's excited smile meant that whatever was about to happen next to Katniss was going to be glitzy or glamourous or something of the like, if Effie's own passion for fashion was anything to go by. Then again, maybe she was worried about something that wasn't there. Katniss had already made up her mind about the situation though. She was going to take what she could and give nothing back.

She and Levi were escorted to what was simply nicknamed 'the prep room', where true to its name, the tributes were prepared for their presentation to the Capitol audiences and potential sponsors. Katniss did not exactly have high hopes for herself, knowing that it would take more than her good looks to attract Capitol sponsors.

She had contemplated briefly what the consequences might have been if she decided to fight off the prep teams that were bathing her and ridding her body of any and all hair it might have once had, but decided against it, figuring that there was nothing to accomplish by fighting off cosmeticians.

These prep agents took their time on Katniss, as if primping her up for an extra-special event, which she blamed on the quarter quell. The words that they left her with filled her with a touch of intrigue.  
"Wait here—Cinna will arrive soon…"  
And with that, they left Katniss, naked except a small sheet to wrap herself up with, which she just left around her waist. None of the Capitol staff were paying any attention to her, and she wasn't paying attention to any of the other tributes. If they saw her, what were they going to do? Within a week or two she'd never see any of them again, either from her killing them or them killing her.

Still… Cinna—that sounded like a man's name. He was probably flambouyant; probably trying to look younger than he was, like most of these Capitol people—and probably eager to eye her naked form from every possible angle, as if preparing her like a piece of meat for a platter. Maybe her body would even get glazed in the process. It made her clench her fists thinking about. In truth, it didn't anger her so much thinking about them doing it to her—but more thinking that if she had gone through this, that Prim had gone through this ordeal the year before. Katniss did not know where to direct her anger—at these Capitol goons who knew no better, or at herself for lashing out the wrong way, which had in turn prevented her from volunteering to save her sister the year before.

She was awkwardly surprised when she found a young, dark-skinned man with minimal makeup on his face apart from golden eyeliner and shadow over his eyes, and fairly simplistic but professional black clothing with flecks of gold. He did not look much older than her, and in truth, she thought he was a little bit attractive.

Of course, she knew better than to say anything. It was awkward enough that she was sitting on that table stark-naked, swinging her feet idly as he approached her and greeted her.

His voice was calmer than she had expected, and very soothing.

"Everdeen, is it?" he asked her as he walked around her, taking measurements and calculating this or that as he checked out her body. Katniss was startled for a second when her sheet was removed, but Cinna just appeared to be acting on business rather than from some lewd attraction to her. As he passed in Katniss' line of sight, she noticed his ears were populated with several earrings of various sizes, including a large pair of golden hoop earrings. She found them interesting, but thought little more of them as she was led into a smaller studio to be outfitted for the parade.

"Tell me a little about yourself," he asked as he began sorting through various designs, as if mentally imagining Katniss in one thing or another, seeking the perfect design.

"I hate people." Katniss admitted bluntly, "there's not much to say about my social side. I don't have one in the slightest."

"Perfect," Cinna replied to Katniss' surprise, to the point where the naked tribute's grey eyes actually popped open.

"Wait… really?"

"Really," Cinna began dressing Katniss in an almost shimmery black material, "I want you to look forward with your head held high tonight. Don't look one way or the other, and keep your chin up, and your arms crossed. Act as if you are too good for these people. Your goal here is to stand out, and I have just the thing to make you do so."  
as Cinna began applying makeup on Katniss' face and styling her hair, she couldn't help but ask the questions now. She was catching glimpses of her outfit, and wondered how this black exterior was going to make her stand out or send a message.

"So how long have you been a stylist?" She muttered,  
"Last year was my first year," Cinna answered, "most stylists see District 12 as something to work up from. I chose it specifically."

"Why?" Katniss tilted her head as she closed her eyes, feeling some sort of paint or cosmetics being applied there, "There's really not much to say about us apart from Laurel and Haymitch."

"There's a certain spirit there that I admire," Cinna answered, "We rae not allowed to bet on people in the games, but if I could, I would have bet on your sister—and I would bet on you this year."

"…even though everyone else is bigger and older than me?" Katniss raised an eyebrow,

"Even then…" Cinna assured her. "Open your eyes."  
In Katniss' hand was a small switch, but otherwise the rest of her outfit was black and shimmery, covering all but her head and her hands. She felt a bit more awkward realizing that the outfit was very form-fitting, and her hair was done up in elaborate buns of ringlets—a significant departure from her usual braid or simply wearing it down.

"What's the switch for?" She asked.

"Press it after counting to about 50 once the parade starts," Cinna advised, "I assure you that it will be well-received, and that what happens is completely harmless."

"That's good to know," Katniss quipped dryly. She wondered if chariot costumes from years past had had painful mishaps or catastrophes of any kind. Considering that there had been almost 2000 kids in these games in the last 75 years, Katniss felt the odds for such a thing would be fairly high.

Katniss really ended up hoping that whatever Cinna had done with her outfit would pay off, because even Levi's outfit seemed to shimmer with a certain dazzling appeal. As she and the other tributes made their way to the chariots, she made eye contact with a large, spiky-haired boy from District 1 dressed in a rich, Capitol-esque blue, contrasting the paler skin of his head and hands. His partner's outfit was a striking pink, covering her chest and arms, but leaving her long, slender legs completely revealed. Katniss could not help but admit that they were both very attractive, but was also glad that she had not been so sexualized (at least in her eyes.)

"Looking good, '12," the boy called out to her, causing Katniss to blush and turn away, suddenly grateful for the makeup she had on. "it's a pity we had to meet and die here in the arena, isn't it?"  
"I don't have time to worry about relationships," Katniss dismissed him.

"Well, you're still just a kid anyways," he chuckled, "that's still pretty gutsy for you to volunteer when everyone around you is so much bigger and older."  
"It happens," Katniss shrugged. "I'm travel-size for your convenience." She mentally cringed at the thought of that poor pregnant woman being paraded through the Capitol like this. No, she felt like her own sacrifice would be much better for the district than sending Naisha to her death.

In truth, Katniss was not that small for her age—she was simply surrounded by fully-grown adults on every side, and many of them, men and women alike—had much more bodily girth than her slender hunter's body did.

Soon, she and Levi were in the chariot, and he simply smirked at her. Katniss wondered what he was up to, but didn't get much more time to think about it, for soon the chariots lurched forward and are. Katniss kept her head held high, not looking to the left or right. She almost developed a sort of tunnel vision about midway through the parade, to the point where she didn't even think about what had changed about her outfit. However, the crowds suddenly erupted into much louder cheers, which Katniss assumed was a good thing, even if she didn't see what was up. It was not until they had stopped in a semicircle around President Snow's mansion that she realized what had happened, causing her to almost hilariously look around her with a start. Her outfit was completely on fire, but Cinna was right—it was not burning her up, and even the clothing didn't seem to be burning. The last thing Katniss wanted was to be reduced to a pair of boots and a pile of ash because of an outfit gone wrong. Thankfully that was not the case it seemed. Instead, she had a cool, fiery effect going on that made her look more intimidating, perhaps to compensate for her smaller size.

Soon though, she turned her attention to President Coriolanus Snow, who appeared on his balcony, armed with his usual pre-games greeting.

"Welcome to the 75th Annual Hunger Games." He announced in his usual calm but commanding tone. "And may the odds be ever in your favor."


	5. Chapter 5: Serenity in Solitude

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _I have always imagined Katniss as fairly introverted and non-social. She's not exactly shy; she just prefers to be alone alot of the time because people quickly burn her out (no pun intended). That said, she's also already a bit traumatized from losing Prim the year before, and so she's a lot more distant and hostile than she was in the books as a result._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 5: Serenity in Solitude**

Shortly after the president concluded his words, the chariots began moving again, heading back towards the Tribute Center. Katniss' expression remained as stoic as ever, unflinching as they all met up at the center, before the tributes dispersed for their respective floors.

"It's almost a shame that we're all about to die in a week or so," a voice from behind her quipped. Katniss spun around to see the scantily but alluringly dressed District 4 pair, shamelessly flaunting their bronzed skin and lithe, athletic frames. The man had been the one to speak.

"Why's that?" Katniss grunted, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, there's the whole Capitol thing to begin with," the boy quipped, "but also because there's a lot of good-looking folks this year."

"And yet there's only one survivor." Katniss retorted.

"A shame indeed," the young man agreed, "you kids from '12 seem to clean up well."  
"I'm not interested in any advances, thanks." Katniss turned away.

"That's the thing though," Katniss felt a hand on her shoulder, pivoting around on her heel to find herself face-to-face with the young woman. "this isn't some sort of romantic advance, silly. This is a thought about going against those vicious careers from '1 and '2."  
"And why do you want me?" Katniss tilted her head. "I'm just a kid compared to all of you. Everyone else is what—21 and up?"  
"Pretty much," the girl admitted, "but hey: there's no need to be hostile. Yes, we think you're cute, and yes, we think you should take your clothes off, but more important than any of that, is that if your skills are as solid as your stoic persona, you could get far."  
"I'd still have to kill you eventually anyways." Katniss shook her head, "there's still only one victor."  
"Must you think so pessimistically all the time, kid?" the man rolled his eyes, "come now, Kale and Kiera aren't out for your blood. Either you're strong and can help us take down the careers, or you're weak and there'd be no honor in killing you."  
Katniss took in this information: Kale and Kiera—those were their names. She had hoped to learn and remember as few names as possible in case she had to kill them, but it seemed that these two names were already worming their way into her head. Both of them started with K—just like her own name.

"My sister died in the arena last year, in case you don't remember," Katniss snarked, "so I apologize if I don't exactly feel thrilled to talk about the games much." She knew they had seen it, for viewing of the games was mandatory. She had cut herself off from the world completely for three whole days after Primrose's death last year, and was still not over the grief. If nothing else, volunteering for the games would put her at peace or kill her in the process. Either option seemed fine with her.

"Still…" Kale warned, "you're going to get picked on because you're young and you're hostile. I just felt like giving you a friendly warning from someone who might still be willing to become your ally."  
"I don't need allies to win the games," Katniss shook her head. "They might help, but they aren't the cure-all and universal solution here."  
"Aye," Kiera agreed, "but remember—just because you don't make allies does not mean you aren't also making enemies. Maybe your mentor can help shed a bit of light on that for you."  
With that, the District 4 pair set off for one of the elevators, and Katniss did the same. To her surprise, she found Levi and Haymitch joining her.

"Those folks from '4 have a point, you know." The older man quipped, "you're not just distant, kid—you're hostile. If you get enough people that want to off you in the opening minutes, you're going to be a bloodstained corpse within 38 seconds of the gunshot going off."

"Then it looks like I have my work cut out for me." Katniss declared, "When you're in a rut with nothing, you grab what you can and you get the hell out of there."

"Look," Haymitch groaned as they got to the 12th floor and stepped off the elevator, "I've seen kids stronger and more rebellious than you try to do this same thing. It never ends well for them. You're at an even bigger disadvantage this year because everyone else is bigger and older and more experienced than you. If you make enemies, especially this early, they will make sure that they smear your remains across the cornucopia in the opening seconds."  
Haymitch took Katniss' shoulders, pinning her against the wall for a moment.

"Do you understand what I'm trying to get through that thick skull of yours?" he added.

"Have you been drinking enough, Haymitch?" Katniss shook her head.

"As a matter of fact, I haven't." With one hand still on Katniss' shoulder, his free hand pulled out a flask and drained it, causing his breath to reek of alcohol as he continued speaking to a slightly irritated Katniss. "But see, despite our district's shitty record, I'm trying to talk some sense into you so you don't blow your chance off in the opening seconds."

"We haven't even met the tributes yet," Katniss pointed out. "Not properly anyways."  
"Actually," Levi spoke, "I hate to break this to you, Katniss…"

"…but that thing that Kale and Kiera did?" Haymitch added, "That was called socializing. I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but that's how people meet each other."

"Then perhaps this anti-social barrel of fun needs a break in her room for a bit," Katniss rolled her eyes, "I'll see you two tomorrow." She was already fiddling with and beginning to remove her outfit by the time she slipped into her bedroom. She finished stripping down and took a shower to wash the rest of the makeup and effects off, but ultimately could not help but admire the outfit she had been put in. Cinna was good at what he did, and was one of the few decent people left in this world.

She spent nearly an hour under the water, trying to clear her mind with limited success, even long after the effects and colors were removed from her body. Eventually, she resigned to her fate for the evening, and climbed out of the fancy shower.

The night was still young, and so instead of dressing for bed, she donned a flowing green knee-length skirt and a snug black top, slipping her feet into a pair of black flats before stepping out of her room again. Haymitch and Effie were conversing about something, although they paused when they saw her. Haymitch simply raised his eyebrows at her without saying anything, to which Katniss scowled. Effie's words were surprisingly more pleasant.

"Those colors look splendid on you, you know." She complimented Katniss' clothing.

"Thanks," she grunted as she headed for the elevator. The rooftop of the building, which housed a magnificent garden as well as the best view of the Capitol in the entire city, was open for access to anyone: tribute, mentor, or Capitol citizen alike.

Katniss headed right towards the edge of the building to get a view of the city below. She wondered what it would be like to cast herself off of the building—it might be a nice way to spit in the face of the Capitol if nothing else, but for the time being, she simply sat at the edge of the building, dangling her feet and gazing out at the night sky. The only light she could see up there was the light of the moon—none of the stars were bright enough to outshine the Capitol lights.

"What do I have going for me?" Katniss quipped, scooting herself forward as if to fall off. She slid off the edge, but a few inches below her feet was a forcefield that threw her back onto the roof, where she landed on her back, slightly sprawled and awkwardly showing much more leg than she had bargained for. So that was how they kept tributes in. Surely some of them had contemplated a swift death in this regard, rather than face the traumatic horrors of the arena. It seemed there was no easy way out for Katniss, and that she would have to die on the Capitol's terms, or beat them at their own game.

She stood back up and walked around for a while, taking in the scents, and otherwise enjoying the peaceful evening sky. Despite the distant noise of what was surely just more Capitol merriment, it was fairly serene up here.

Maybe that was what she needed—just a bit of alone time. Katniss was definitely quite the introvert, preferring her own company much more than socially interacting with people. She had been surrounded by people all day for the last two days. First there was Effie, Levi, and the others at the Reaping, and then she was cooped up in the train. After that she had gotten paraded in front of all of the Capitol (or it had seemed like that many, at least), and so she was a bit stressed and burnt out from all of that human interaction. Being alone helped her recharge.

She returned to her room later that evening and fell asleep rather quickly, surprisingly enough. Tomorrow, however, was when the real fun would begin.


	6. Chapter 6: The Training Center

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _I'm taking a few creative liberties here with this new Quarter Quell, but nothing too out of the ordinary. the Capitol wants a damn good show, and they know a few tricks that might help them get that show. In the meantime, it's time for Katniss to get down to business._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 6: The Training Center**

Morning came, and Katniss slipped her feet back into those slippers, otherwise wearing the same skirt and shirt from the previous evening. She figured they would be changing soon anyways, and she didn't bother with a shower. Heck, back home in '12 she usually showered maybe once a week or so, when there wasn't soot in the water. Hygiene wasn't much of a priority for a slew of messy, dark-skinned miners who cared little for personal appearance.

"So this is the Girl on Fire then," Haymitch quipped as he joined her and Levi at the breakfast table.

"What of it?" Katniss mumbled through a mouth full of food.

"You really don't get it, do you," he sighed.  
"I don't know what there is to get," Katniss frowned, swallowing hard. "I'm not going to make friends with 23 other people that I will have to kill, outsmart, or simply outlive, in order for my own life not to stop. I'm a worse actress than Laurel Fox, Haymitch—and even I know how bad of an actress she was."

"Then maybe it's time you shut your damn trap for two seconds and listened to what I've been trying to say." Haymitch demanded, "There's another way you can go about this without turning this into a 23-on-1—because those kids will do that to you. Don't think for a moment that you're above that fate."

Katniss sighed, but knew that she was beat. Still—she had one more question.

"What about Levi?" she tilted her head.

"What about him?" Haymitch retorted, "He knows what he's doing, and he's making friends and allies. Since you clearly want to burn that bridge, you're going to have to come off as stoic and fearless—and that also means you're going to have to shut up. Your mouth just gets you into trouble."  
Katniss frowned, but knew what he meant. It had been her own mouth that had brought her here, even if she had made a noble sacrifice for a greater cause by saving Naisha and her baby.

"Fine," Katniss conceded, "I… I guess I'm just upset about a lot of things."  
"You did volunteer though," Levi pointed out, "and while I'm no expert, that whole thing with Kale and Kiera didn't exactly seem like a nice little get-to-know party."

"It's complicated," Katniss insisted, "let's… let's go."

The two of them returned to their respective rooms to find matching sets of clothing that were in their perfect size. The outfits were fairly simple—black tracksuits with grey and red stripes along either side, with the number 12 on the front below the neck, on the shoulders, and on the hips. Katniss was fairly certain that it represented their district number.

She met back up with Levi a few minutes later, and they headed down to the massive basement training center, where tributes would spend the last week or so of their lives in what could be intensive training in preparation for these deadly games.

When they got there though, the head of the Training Center Staff, a woman named Atala, had a special announcement for them.

"In honor of this Quarter Quell," she began, "there will be two weeks of training prior to the arena. May the odds be ever in your favor." After this little bit she went into the usual introductions. These tributes might have been older, but most of them had not used weapons before.

"Ultimately, however," she finished, "we're all adults here. I think we know the importance of each station, and which ones you might be able to overlook. I wouldn't be too frivolous with the ones you skip over though—odds are the Gamemakers will make it happen to you in the arena."

Two weeks… that was revelation that Katniss felt could come in handy. It would be a long and treacherous two weeks though—that was more than enough time to make plenty of enemies or allies. Heck, most Hunger Games tended to last between about 10 and 18 days, and so for them to have 14 days of training meant that the Capitol was most likely hoping to shape them up into fighters, minimizing bloodbath casualties and drawing out the actual combat scenarios when they arose.

Katniss watched Levi head for the traps station while she went straight for the bows. Kale and Kiera were already throwing spears and tridents with deadly accuracy, while a pair of tributes with 3s on their outfits were doing something with knives, paints, and rope.

The tribute center had definitely been renovated from the year before, producing state-of-the-art equipment for the tributes of the exciting Quarter Quell. Katniss found herself addicted to the archery station, flipping on a sort of holographic contraption that caused bright-colored holographic dummies to charge at her as if they were armed combatants. She used her bow with fierce speed and deadly accuracy to shoot them in areas that would be fatal, which caused the projections to burst and fade away. She had copious amounts of arrows at her disposal, and so spent a solid half an hour just shooting dummies before her loss of stamina finally caused her to 'slip up', and one of them got her.

"251," she panted, rather pleased with the results. "let's see anyone top that." She did not say it to anyone in particular, and for the most part, Katniss remained silent for the rest of the time.

No one managed to top Katniss' score by the end of the day, although a few people came close with other weapons. The boys from Districts 1 and 2 proved their might and strength with swords and battleaxes, while the girl from District 1 was a knife-thrower to the core. Her District 2 counterpart seemed to have a thing for throwing axes, although she was also seen near the trap station with Levi, even if the two did not interact much at all. Katniss had unintentionally learned that the District 3 pair were named Surge and Elsa, which in turn made it harder on her to think about killing them. Kale and Kiera were still on her mind, after all.

Maybe she was just overthinking all of this though. She knew that she had a soft spot for those weaker than her, which was part of why she had freaked out the year before when her sister Prim had been taken. She overreacted and turned unintentionally violent in trying to save her sister from the games, only to get forcefully subdued by the Peacekeepers, who then ignored any and all of her attempts to volunteer for her in her stead. Perhaps she could redeem herself this year by saving Naisha's life.

On the other hand, she knew that Surge, Elsa, Kiera, and Kale were anything but weak. The former two might have been on the slender side, but they were clearly very intelligent if the way they moved and carried themselves was anything to go by. Their performance in the training center that day was definitely another merit. They had mastered the plants and poisons stations in less than half a day, demonstrating that they very well might not need to outmuscle whatever they can outwit.

It seemed that they had also gained allies in Kale and Kiera, and that suddenly worried Katniss. The District 4 pair knew her well from their little altercation the previous night after the chariot parade, and so they knew that she was likely hostile. Perhaps it was time to swallow her pride and talk to Haymitch about the day's events.

"So… what did you do?" he quipped as he watched Katniss return. Levi had already eaten dinner and was off in his room. She wondered what he was up to, and already did not trust him. She'd have to keep her eyes on him.

"I shot stuff," Katniss shrugged, "we've apparently got two weeks before the games, and I don't even know what I'm going to do with that time."

"Well, there's the private sessions on the last day," Haymitch reminded her, "you're ranked 1 through 12, where 1 more or less means you're totally screwed, and 12 basically means you're a ruthless killer that everyone else is going to want to target anyways."  
"So… I should score something between that?" Katniss raised an eyebrow.

"You, girl…" Haymitch chuckled dryly, "you want to score as high as possible. The other tributes already want to kill you, and so you better start painting yourself as someone scary, to give a few of them second thoughts. Either that or throw everyone off by scoring a zero."  
"how do you score a zero?" Katniss wondered aloud, "I thought you said it was 1-12."  
"If you don't show up for private sessions they give you a zero." Haymitch replied, "A kid from District 6 did that during my year—he actually survived a few days too."

"So basically, I need to play the system—play their game." Katniss suggested. To her slight surprise, Haymitch actually grinned.

"now you're catching on." He applauded her, "get ready for the week and a half of a lifetime, Everdeen—you're going to be jumping through a hell of a lot of hoops these next few days."

"Shit." Katniss mumbled under her breath. She knew that Haymitch was right.


	7. Chapter 7: The Scores

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Since only having the names of a couple of tributes is rather boring, I'm going to do what I did in the 74th Hunger Games and give a handful of the tributes names instead. Katniss is up against some rather fierce competition, and she knows it. High scores abound due to the extra week of training, and that these are all adults (and Katniss). Don't question her archery. Just don't._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 7: The Scores**

Kale, Kiera, Surge, and Elsa… Katniss now knew five names (Levi being the 5th) of tributes she would likely end up having to kill. The next few days in training were not kind to her, for Kale and Kiera seemed to have spread the word about Katniss' hostility. None of the others took it well, and so she got rather picked on throughout each passing day. On the other hand, she did pick up a couple of new skills along the way, such as how to fight with knives, hatchets, and other small weapons. When she first tried her hand at the knives, she found the black-haired District 1 girl planting a deliberately sloppy kiss on her lips, causing Katniss to shove her back.

"The hell was that about?" She snapped.

"For one, you need to lighten up." the girl retorted, "I'd say you need to get laid, but I don't think that's going to happen to anyone in the arena. Do you want to know what your problem is?"  
"I'm going to stick you first." Katniss warned, "If you don't get your damn hands off me right now."

"See, Winter and I want to help you," the girl continued, "you're a fighter, and we like that. All I really wanted to do was see you learn a new trick or two."

"Why?" Katniss looked skeptical, "you're just going to kill me."  
"Well of course we are," the District 2 girl, apparently named Winter, approached them, "but we don't want to kill some sniveling coward if or when she can't get her hands on a bow. Diversify, Everdeen. Let Titania teach you a thing or two."  
She thumbed towards the District 1 girl, who tossed Katniss a knife. Much to Katniss' personal annoyance, she also learned the names of their partners: Titania's partner was named Tarin, and Winter's partner was named Wallace. On the other hand, they did seem intent on teaching her a few things, and that much they did manage to accomplish. Haymitch approved of Katniss' risk-taking, figuring that she was better off at least associating with the tributes instead of becoming everyone's enemy before the games had even started.

Whatever the case, those two weeks flew by and before Katniss knew it, she and the others were lining up to demonstrate to the Capitol their skills. Katniss already had a fairly shrewd idea of what she was going to do, and so this was the one time where she actually smirked. She knew that she couldn't actually shoot the Gamemakers, but she had a plan.

For the time being, she waited as Tarin used his axe, Titania used her knives, Wallace used his sword, Winter used her hatchets. Surge and Elsa did something electrical, while Kale and Kiera used lances and spears. Katniss didn't know any of this for certain, but if their activities in the training center were anything to go by, then she had them down pat.

Soon Levi had returned from the training room, where Katniss was finally called in. She took one good look at the Gamemakers, meeting their eyes for a moment before they went back to their feasting and partying, and walked coolly over towards the bows. Taking only two arrows, she turned and immediately aimed for the window where they were supposed to be watching her.

THWACK! Katniss' arrow had gone right through the opening, shooting an apple right out of a large roast pig's mouth.

"Now that I have your attention…" Katniss announced, noticing that all eyes were on her. She nocked another arrow and let it fly, this one hitting the first with such accuracy that the point stuck right into the nock of the first arrow.

"…thank you for your consideration."

Katniss' session had only lasted all of about 38 seconds before she walked right back out with little regard to what the Gamemakers thought about her performance. She had done what she had wanted to do, and the smug expression that persisted on her face as she rode back up the elevator was proof of her success, in her eyes.

Since she was the last one to have her private session, Katniss did not have to wait long at all before the scores started showing up on the screen. Of course, the fanfares got Katniss' attention as she and Levi sat down to watch the screen. Haymitch was at the table behind them filling up a flask.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen—the training scores of this year's tributes, for the 75_ _th_ _Annual Hunger Games."_

Everyone in the room immediately fell silent.

" _Tarin McNair; District 1, with a score of… 9"_

Katniss crossed her arms. That was an interesting opening, but still a respectable one. Tributes did not often score that high outside of the career pack or the occasional kid from District 3 or 11.

" _Titania Summerdream; District 1, with a score of… 11"_

Katniss had snorted at the girl's surname, but stopped when she had seen her score.

" _Wallace Stone; District 2, with a score of… 11"_

Well that certainly meant trouble. Katniss started idly playing with her hands.

 _Winter Ramirez; District 2, with a score of… 12"_

Katniss immediately took back what she said about Wallace. Winter was the real threat her—no pun intended. It did make her briefly contemplate what the arena might have been, but she'd be able to contemplate that later tonight.

" _Surge Santiago; District 3, with a score of… 10"_

So he was as smart and cunning as he had looked. Katniss frowned—he meant trouble too.

" _Elsa Zincke; District 3, with a score of… 8"_

Finally… a score that wasn't so high above the rest. Katniss frowned again. She wondered what her score would be? She hadn't even spent a full minute of the 15 that she technically had to display her skills.

She stopped paying attention to the scores for a while as Kale and Kiera scored an 8 and a 9, but then cast her eyes back towards the television at District 11.

" _Jackson Tong; District 11, with a score of… 9"_

She knew that she would inevitably hear the girl's name too, which meant that she now knew half of the tributes' names—10 tributes more than she had been hoping to learn.

" _Vex Greenwood; District 11, with a score of… 10"_

Vex… that was a pretty name. But, she had scored high, just like most of the tributes had (the lowest score so far had been a 6; Katniss was fairly certain it had gone to someone in District 10 or one of the drug-addicts from District 6). It was right up there with the careers instead of in the sea of 6s, 7s, 8s (and the occasional 9) in the districts between 4 and 11.

 _Levi Dryden; District 12, with a score of… 7"_

"not bad," Katniss shrugged, although it was a half-hearted compliment. Her own name would be showing up in a few seconds—and while she hated being here with every fiber of her being, at least she didn't have to see the tired, terrified face of the pregnant Naisha Togisala up here.

 _Katniss Everdeen; District 12, with a score of… 12"_

"Who'd you have to kill to get that score?" Haymitch quipped, turning to Katniss. Even Effie and Levi seemed fairly interested. It was rare that someone from District 12 got that high of a score.

"The apple in the pig's mouth," Katniss shrugged, "I shot it once to get their attention and then shot my first arrow with another arrow."  
"You shot an arrow at the Gamemakers' head?!" Levi laughed, "Man I wish I could have seen that."  
"I shot the apple," Katniss shrugged, "they would have probably publically executed me and bombed District 12 to the ground if I actually killed any of them."

"Well…" Haymitch grunted, "as impressive as all of that is… don't go wandering too far now, kiddos. Stylists should be coming in soon and they'll be excited enough to see their champions—and then dress 'em up for the interviews tonight."  
Haymitch paused and turned to Levi. "Levi, you know the drill." He explained with a shrug. He had been much easier to deal with when it came to interacting with people.

"Everdeen…" Haymitch sighed for a moment before meeting her eyes. "Just don't kill anyone—or say anything stupid. The Capitol wouldn't be too happy about that, and they are the ones whose asses you need to kiss if you want any sponsors. Remember—if they don't sponsor you, they'll sponsor someone else, and you might find yourself on the receiving end of Tarin's axe or Vex's hammer."  
"Got it," Katniss shrugged. In truth, she was looking forward to seeing Cinna again. He was one of the few people that seemed to know just how to put up with Katniss without raising tensions between them. Haymitch was too much like Katniss for them to get along so smoothly. Katniss knew she wasn't friendly, and so she saw that bit of herself in the older man. Levi was too distant, Effie was too ditzy, and the other tributes were her enemies. Other than Cinna's dress for her tonight, Katniss was going to have to trek into this thing alone.

Still—it brought a small smile to her face as there was a light knock on the door, where Portia and Cinna stepped inside to say hello…


	8. Chapter 8: Red and Brown

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _And with the interviews covered in this chapter, it sets us up nice and perfect for the arena in the following chapter. In the meantime, our fiery heroine has to deal with the antics of Levi, Vex, Caesar, and others. Luckily she has Cinna in the mix to serve as some sort of relief, because the ride only gets wilder from here._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 8: Red and Brown**

Katniss was relieved to get away from her team for a bit as she followed Cinna back down to his studio again. He had already given her a striking chariot costume that had drawn attention to her, and if her training score of 12 hadn't put the sights of the Gamemakers and the other tributes on her, then she didn't know what would. She was not exactly sure how to feel about this attention, but she figured that there was nothing she could do about it now.

"All eyes are on you, Girl on Fire," Cinna warned as Katniss began stripping down.

"Of that I have no doubt," Katniss murmured, "it's do or die now, isn't it?"  
"Not quite," Cinna objected, "but since I don't think there's a way to make you slip back into the shadows again until the arena if you decide on that type of strategy… I'm going to make you not only stand out in your interview—I'm going to make you shine."

As Cinna prepared her dress, Katniss gazed at herself in the mirror, where she was greeted by a lithe, slightly scrawny girl with red-brown skin. The redness had come from the operations earlier to remove her body hair and clean her up to Capitol standards before the parade, and so the sensitivity of her skin had not diminished back to normal quite yet. A few wavy bangs hung over her grey eyes, and the remainder of her thick brown locks dropped down her back behind her. She felt like she really needed to gain some weight—not like she'd get much of a chance to do that in the arena.

After a few minutes, Katniss found herself outfitted in a fiery red dress and matching heels that she had a little trouble with for a moment.

"I'll never get how Effie does it," she muttered as she collected herself. Despite being slightly wobbly on her ankles, Katniss was skilled enough with her arms to know how to stay balanced.

Katniss also had mixed feelings about Caesar Flickerman. She had seen his show and seen some rather interesting remarks said, usually by children from Districts 11 or 12, but Haymitch's words were also gnawing on the back of her mind. She knew she was a very unfriendly young woman—not sweet and welcoming like her sister Prim, and certainly not as smooth as Peeta Mellark from last year. Even Levi, as stupid as he was (in her mind anyways), was probably better at this than she was.

Cinna left Katniss with two pieces of advice before she went on stage—to handle Caesar, he recommended that try to imagine it as him asking the questions, since she could talk to and relate to Cinna much more than anyone else in Panem. His second piece of advice was at least once during her interview, he told her to find some time to give that dress of hers a little twirl. He said something about the flames from the chariot costume being involved, but refused to divulge much more, claiming it would "spoil the surprise." Katniss immediately prepared for the worst, figuring that it would have something to do with burning her clothes right off or something. Well, it would certainly be memorable—that was for sure.

She joined the other tributes as they lined up behind the stage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Winter was wearing an icy white and blue dress with a wide array of shades and swirls that Katniss actually found slightly mesmerizing—and a stark contrast to her fiery dress. Titania's outfit was unsurprisingly revealing, while her and Winter's partners were sharply dressed in such a way that even Katniss had to admire their looks. She was female after all, and there was a part of her, no matter how small, that had a thing for a well-dressed man.

She was surprised to find that Vex, who was wearing a flowing forest-green gown, was actually very light-skinned. Her partner Jackson was also a tone or two lighter than Katniss even. Much to her embarrassment, they noticed her staring.

"What," Vex quipped, "did you think everyone from '11 was dark? Surge and Elsa are, and I guess District 4's a little darker than usual—not us though."  
"Pretty much everyone left in '12 is dark," Katniss shrugged, "Sorry if I offended you or whatever."

"Pfft, it ain't gonna matter much in a few hours," Vex shrugged, "just wanted to clarify the question that clearly appeared to be on your mind."

"Right," she shrugged, smacking Levi's hand away from her.

"What did I even do?" He half-chuckled; he seemed to find Katniss' aggressiveness amusing.

"You touched my ass." She snapped. To her shock, he gave her backside a pat, which in turn caused Vex and Jackson to laugh.  
"Now I did," he shook his head, "but not before."  
Before Katniss could respond, Vex spoke up again. "He's not lying." She clarified, "he merely brushed by you. I know an accident from an intentional 'accident' any day."

Katniss did not respond, instead feeling rather awkward about this whole thing. She wished she could just twirl around, let the dress catch fire, and let it consume her.

Katniss heard the fanfare start a few moments later, but did not pay much attention to any of the other tributes and their interviews. It would be a little while before '11 and '12 would reach the stage. She did manage to catch little snippets of some of them, such as how Wallace joked about a fiery, aggressive tribute as part of his competition, while Elsa from District 3 made a joke about not needing to outmuscle anything she could outwit. Soon, Vex had left their presence and went up on stage, where Katniss heard her making jokes about her own looks (she was actually rather pretty) and about how she wasn't worried about tomorrow. Jackson's lines were similar, and soon Katniss found her name being called. To say she was nervous might have been an understatement. Still, she tried heeding Cinna's advice, but really ended up mostly just babbling or muttering one or two-word answers. When he asked her about what her favorite Capitol dish was, she actually had a genuine answer.

"The cheese buns," she admitted, "they're almost as good as the ones back home, but shit I could eat those things all damn day and still never be satisfied. If I win these games, I demand at least 25% of the first month of my victor stipend to be paid in cheese buns or so help me."

This actually got the Capitol laughing pretty hard. Thankfully Katniss didn't have to rack her brain to try and figure out more things to say or how to lead it into twirling her dress, because Caesar went right into that territory himself.

"That's a mighty fine dress you have on," he grinned at her.

"Thank you," Katniss shrugged, "Cinna is a talented man."  
"That he certainly is," Caesar agreed, "here, why don't you give it a little twirl."  
The downside of this was that Katniss was fairly certain she had at least a 64% chance of falling flat on her face (or worst yet, clear off the stage) in those heels, but what could she do? She couldn't just say no, especially when she was as curious as the Capitol to know what sort of surprises that dress of hers held. Hopefully it wouldn't burn off.  
She almost jumped as she twirled though. the hems did catch fire, before she realized that it was the same fake fire that had been used on her chariot outfit. Sparks flew and the flames crackled as she twirled, putting the audience into frantic and excited applause. It did not take much time after that for her to be dismissed with thunderous applause.

"Good luck," she shrugged as Levi went in, but she wasn't going to wait around. She wanted to head back up to her room and relax, and so that was exactly what she did. She was exhausted, not so much from the physical toil (she had not done much physically today apart from shooting a couple of arrows and twirling in a dress) but from the emotional stress of knowing what was going to happen to her in a few hours. In less than 24 hours, she would become a murderer, or would become a bloody streak spread across at least 25 square feet of the arena. She couldn't let her sacrifice for Naisha be in vain though. She had to fight, and survival was in her blood.

Despite the fact that this "Girl on Fire" practically crashed onto the sofa in her apartment without even so much as taking off her shoes was something worth mentioning as Katniss conked out, deep in thought about what the treacherous arena that she'd be thrown into tomorrow would end up being like. Even though she seemed to have a fairly amiable relationship with the tributes from 11, 4, 3, 2, and 1 as well as even Levi, she wondered just how many of them were going to try and stab her in the back when morning came and the countdown had ended. Time would tell…


	9. Chapter 9: The Quell Begins

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _And now we get to the arena at last. Apparently these arenas are made a few years in advance or whatnot, andso the 75th Arena from Catching Fire is the same one we will be facing today... although we might find new hazards or not see old ones. I don't think these games will end so quickly-or with a District 12 archer breaking the arena-but we'll find out._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **PART II: THE GAMES**

 **CHAPTER 9: The Quell Begins**

Katniss was somewhat surprised to find herself in her bed and in her underwear when she woke up the next morning. Who had undressed her, undone her hair, and washed the makeup off her face? Had she really been that tired, or was she just that much of a heavy sleeper? Arguably, she felt that both answers were valid. As alert as she was when she was awake, Katniss was a heavy enough sleeper that sometimes it actually took pushing her out of bed to bring her back to consciousness.

"Rise and shine, sweetheart," Haymitch's gruff voice was the one to greet Katniss that morning. She was fairly certain that there was an almost disdainful amount of sarcasm present in his tone. As Katniss got up and showered for what very well might have been the last time, she came back to find a set of dark grey and black clothing on the edge of her bed: a grey T-shirt with the number 12 on the shoulders, with black cargo pants and a lightweight matching coat also bearing a pair of armbands with the number 12. As she put these on, strapping on a pair of black combat boots in the process, she thought about where she was going. She had heard rumors that the arena uniforms were going to be "standardized" this year, although she was not sure what exactly that meant. She pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves that matched the outfit, glancing at the light metal plating over the tops, with a hinge near the wrist and another smaller plate ending right near the knuckles. She imagined how good it might feel to punch someone in the face with these. Maybe she would try it out later today. First she wanted to get a bit of breakfast into her system though, and so she'd even deal with Levi, who was dressed in an outfit identical to Katniss'.

Breakfast was quiet until Haymitch had had his usual flask of alcohol, after which he spoke up.

"This is do or die, kids," he grunted, "not that you weren't already aware of that—just thought you ought to know. Take a look at the cornucopia during the countdown. See what's there, and what could be dangerous. If you see weapons that the careers might like, stay far enough away that you can stay alive. I'd suggest running into the wilderness myself, since that's what District 12 is better than the careers at—but even then, a lot depends on the arena."  
"That's probably some of the most and only useful information you've give us so far," Katniss retorted dryly, "good to know."  
"I've got my uses," Haymitch retorted without skipping a beat, "it's yours that I'm still trying to figure out, sweetheart."

Levi laughed. "He got you there, Everdeen."

"Shut it," Katniss growled, knowing that he was right. Still, it wouldn't matter too much within the next couple of hours. After filling her belly and drinking plenty of water, she bided her time until the Peacekeepers showed up a few minutes later to escort them to the hovercraft that would take 23 of these young men and women to their graves.

She was utterly quiet on the hovercraft, nonchalantly sticking her right arm out when they came around to put the trackers in the tributes' arms. Katniss made eye contact with no one until she was in the catacombs beneath the arena, where to her surprise she found herself face to face with Cinna.

"I don't have much time or very many words for you, Katniss Everdeen," he said softly, pulling a golden pin out of his pocket, "but I'm still rooting for you." He pinned it to Katniss' T-shirt, where Katniss realized that it bore a Mockingjay with an arrow in its beak.

"Where did you get this," Katniss looked surprised.  
"Your sister left it in my possession before the games last year," Cinna frowned, "It seemed she knew that she would not be able to bring it back.

"I'll bring it back for her then," Katniss' fists clenched, "I'll crawl out of this mess alive." She wanted to hurt something—kill something. She didn't want to take it out on Cinna, but the first tribute to cross her path was going to get attacked. "…thank you, Cinna."  
"I'm still rooting for you, Girl on Fire," he smiled as Katniss stepped into the glass tube. Cinna waved slowly as the platform the brown-skinned girl was standing on began rising, until Cinna had disappeared from view without incident.

As she emerged in the light, however, she finally got a view of the arena in front of her. The cornucopia was perched on a rocky little island in the middle of a large body of water. Each of the pedestals was surrounded by water, and between every two of them were 12 rocky paths that led to the cornucopia. Being unable to swim, Katniss knew that she'd have to use one of those.  
 _"Sixty… Fifty-Nine… Fifty-Eight…"_

Hearing the actual countdown made everything suddenly feel that much more realistic. In less than a minute, fights would break out, and people would start dying. She just had to make sure that she was not one of them. She glanced around, and saw a boy from District 10 on her left and then Kiera on her right. Hopefully that girl used the water—she knew that unlike herself, District 4 could swim.

" _Nineteen… Eighteen… Seventeen…"_

Squinting towards the cornucopia, Katniss scoured it for a bow, and also kept her eye out for some knives if she couldn't get one of the bows in time. She rolled her shoulders, getting ready for the final moment. She wasn't going to run from the cornucopia—if she died here, it would be a fitting fate for her after the life she led; if she survived… then perhaps fate would give her another chance. The odds might be in her favor after all.

"Three… Two… One…"

Katniss' mind went blank as she dove into the water and struggled frantically to reach the stone walkway. True to her theory, Kiera took straight to the water and beat Katniss to the path, racing ahead of her. Perhaps it was a blessing that she was so fast. Either way, Katniss made it to the rocks and sprinted surprisingly swiftly towards the golden horn. The careers were already there, but in the mayhem, Katniss was able to disappear and snatch a bow, which was exactly what she was looking for. No one had died just yet, but there were scuffles that Katniss was positive would end in at least one or two deaths. She saw the man from District 10 rapidly approaching, armed with a curved sword a smirk on his face. Cornering Katniss against the side of the horn, he twirled his sword hungrily as Katniss watched with a slightly slack-jawed expression.

A moment later she remembered that she was holding a bow and had arrows around her shoulder already, and so she rectified this problem by nocking and shooting an arrow faster than the sword-wielder could react, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. Katniss jumped back into the fray by shooting a woman from District 7, and then snatching a handful of throwing knives, using one of them to finish off the woman she had just wounded.  
Katniss found herself crying out as she felt the side of her face become white-hot and then cool again, stinging. The salty air was irritating the freshly opened wound on her cheek and neck, but more than that, she was amazed that she hadn't just been decapitated. However, the offending individual—a man from District 6—was soon put to rest as Katniss plunged one of her knives into his forehead, breathing savagely with adrenaline. She had her bow, she had her knives, and she had her backpack. With the careers either chasing the others off or the other tributes scattering anyways, Katniss knew that she had to do the same, and so took off down a stone path behind the cornucopia's tail, racing towards the surely treacherous jungle. She had not seen Levi escape the carnage, and figured the worst. Not that she had intended to align herself with him anyways—but another District 12 victor would be nice if she didn't survive this ordeal.

After running for nearly half an hour, Katniss knew three things: foremost, she was completely lost, but she was also alone, surrounded by an otherwise fairly silent jungle. Secondly, she was a murderer now, with the blood on her hands symbolizing it as well as being concrete evidence of her deeds. Some of it was her own, but she'd worry about that later. For now she needed to find a secluded place to make camp and then check the contents of her backpack to see what she had—and to see what she could do regarding food and water. The water around the cornucopia was salty, as she had smelt in the air (and felt on her face as her wound stung), and so she knew she would have to look elsewhere.

This was it—the 75th Annual Hunger Games had begun.


	10. Chapter 10: Tick, Tock

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Katniss might end up gaining a valuable ally and a considerable advantage in the arena, but it's not easy street for her just yet. many of her hardships are yet to come, and they don't necessarily end after the arena. Just a couple of things to think about, really. Also, since this is the arena from "Catching Fire", we will see some similar hazards here. A few of the wedges that we didn't see the hazards for, I may take creative liberties on if applicable. Time will tell._  
 _till then... happy reading!_

 **CHAPTER 10: Tick, Tock...**

One of the first things that Katniss decided to do once she was away from the carnage was to search for water. She wasn't too concerned about food, but knew that without water she wouldn't last more than a few hours. The heat of the arena was rather stifling, and so she did what she could to get out of the sun, staying under the dense canopy of trees, and keeping her guard up lest she encounter another tribute. She ran in what she presumed was a straight line, eventually stopping as she reached an enormous tree that towered above all of the rest. It caught her attention, and she was lucky it had, for as she glanced behind it, she noticed a shimmer in the air. Curiously, she stepped towards it, her left hand extended. She could feel light jolts of electricity flowing through her fingers for a split-second before she recoiled. This was the edge of the arena.

It was almost surreal—glancing at the jungle that looked the same as the rest of her surroundings. She was so close to freedom, and yet so far. Everything was so serene out here, and so Katniss took this time as an opportunity to rest a little and collect her bearings. Not much longer after this, Katniss noticed a parachute coming her way. Maybe someone was impressed with her performance in the bloodbath, where she had taken out three tributes on her own, or maybe someone was pitying her. Water would be nice though, as an examination of her backpack had not revealed anything of note; and she couldn't exactly eat her bow or her knives.

She popped it open and found a compass and a note.

 _"It's almost 12 o' clock." ~H_

Katniss couldn't put her head around what that could mean, but if the compass was anything to go by, she was at the northern fringe of the arena next to this massive tree.

She found out something less than an hour later though—one of the horrors of this otherwise serene jungle. She knew that that tranquility wouldn't last. The sky had darkened, and suddenly the sound of a gong was heard, which played 12 times. Immediately following this, a huge bolt of lightning struck the massive tree. The tree did not incinerate, but the lightning struck it repeatedly, giving Katniss a right scare at first (and nearly frazzling her braid), but after jumping back with a shriek of surprise, she realized that the lightning was only striking the tree. Unbeknownst to her, this was exactly what Haymitch meant by it being 12 o' clock.

Glancing at the tree and the forcefield one last time, Katniss took a right, following the forcefield for a while through repetitive jungle until about half an hour later or so, she came across another tree identical to the one that she had left a while ago as it was being struck by lightning. All the while she was still without water, and every little pond and puddle she had passed was too salty to drink, which did not bode well for her. Instead she tried to verify where she was, and so she reached her hand out towards the shimmering "air", feeling the electric hum again.

So she had been following the forcefield after all—but was it really that small of a circle? Was one of the traps a hazardous forcefield that surrounded her on all four sides now?

She would find out later. Instantly, Katniss had her bow out and pointed it into the trees. Something—or someone—was approaching. A moment later, a fair-skinned woman with dirty blonde hair emerged, her gloved hands in the air.

"I didn't think you'd get out of the bloodbath without them all ganging up on you," she quipped, "now how about you put that bow down and we can talk things over?"  
"What's there to say?" Katniss kept her aim steady, "only one of us lives."

"True," the girl nodded, "but see, why kill sweet little Vex right now when you've got Winter, Wallace, Tarin, and Titania all vowing to drink your blood?"  
"they're really going to drink my blood?" Katniss cocked her head sideways

"That's more or less the gist of it," Vex shrugged, "they didn't drink your partner's blood, but I'm fairly certain that Winter beheaded him at the cornucopia. We'll be seeing him tonight."  
"What 'we' are you talking about here," Katniss frowned.

"Eesh, kid," Vex approached Katniss point-blank, pushing the bow out of her face, "look—you don't want to kill me right now either, or you would have just put that arrow down my throat while I was flapping my yap. You're not some killing machine just yet."  
"that's where you're wrong," Katniss warned, although she did put her arrow back in its quiver, "I'll kill every last one of these people if it gets me home. Don't push your luck, '11."  
"Sweetheart, I pushed my luck the moment I decided I had enough ovaries to approach you unarmed." Vex laughed, "loosen up. The games have hardly even gone on for more than an hour. We're not going to end it here and now."

"the ovaries," Katniss tilted her head.

"Well I couldn't exactly say I grew some balls," Vex shrugged, "but that's totally not the point of what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that we should team up. Besides—I can show you where to find water if you do."  
"I can find it on my own just fine," Katniss asserted.

"I'm sure you could," Vex rolled her eyes, "I hope you like saltwater then—those ponds you might have seen on the way here from wherever were you poking around earlier? Saltwater—all of them."

"And you have a secret freshwater pond then, I take it?" Katniss rolled her eyes.

"Nothing so fanciful," Vex shook her head with a smirk, "let me assure you. But—I do have this."  
She brandished a small piece of metal that had Katniss gazing skeptically at it for a second before she plunged it into the bark of the massive tree. A moment later, water began dripping out the other end of it into Vex's awaiting mouth. Katniss was admittedly salivating at the sight of clean, fresh water. The heat and humidity had made her thirsty rather quickly, since she was sweating profusely. She contemplated stripping off some of her layers, but remained dressed for now.

"Want some?" Vex pulled back a moment later, letting some of the water run down her face, "dig in!"  
Katniss didn't wait for an answer and moved under the spile, letting the water flow into her mouth and onto her face. It felt heavenly when compared to this otherwise rather hostile jungle, and so she took advantage of it while she could.

"Friends?" Vex offered her hand after Katniss had drank her fill.

"Alright…" Katniss nodded, clasping Vex's hand and shaking, "friends."

As Katniss rose to her feet she turned to her lighter friend. "so have you found anything out about the arena apart from the water thing?"  
"I haven't" Vex shrugged, "I did hear lightning about an hour ago, but I don't kn—"

Their speech was interrupted by a single gong. A moment later, it began to rain, but it only took a second for them both to notice that this was no ordinary rain.

"It's blood!" Vex exclaimed, "or some sort of cheap imitation anyhoo… find shelter!"

Katniss and Vex tore through the jungle trying to find a branch or canopy big enough for the two of them as they waited out the storm of blood, which obscured the jungle with red. Both tributes were already soaked. The blood rain itself didn't seem to do much other than irritate the tributes, and so Katniss considered it somewhat less dangerous than the lightning tree, but even that wasn't very dangerous. She wondered if the hazards and death traps would get worse and worse the farther around the circle she went.

"So…" Vex turned to Katniss as they took cover under a particularly dense tree, "did you get any sponsor gifts? I'm sure the kid that scored a 12 and then offed three tributes in the bloodbath had to have at least something to her name by now. I mean, they sponsored me the spile and all I did was kill a guy from District 9 and run."  
"All I got was a compass and a note from my mentor that said it's almost 12 o' clock." Katniss shrugged, "That was a couple hours ago."

"have you explored much of the arena?" Vex looked at Katniss again, a bit of the blood rain dripping down the left side of her face.

"Well, I found the lightning tree right after getting the compass," Katniss explained, "and then I kind of just followed the forcefield until I found the other tree. I think the arena might be a circle."  
"Hold on…" Vex thought about these things for a second. "12 o' clock, an hour ago… lightning, blood rain… Katniss, my friend—I know the trick to this arena now, thanks to you." At this point, she was practically whispering, as if not wanting the Capitol to hear her.

"Well?" Katniss leaned closer as Vex whispered into her ear.

"The hazards are going to come every hour, going clockwise." Vex whispered, a devious smirk appearing on the District 11 girl's face, "because the arena's a clock."


	11. Chapter 11: Screams in the Dark

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _sorry about the lack of chapter last week. Similarly, I had this one ready to go, but then the site went down for two days, and so it's late. Anyhoo, just because Katniss and Vex seemed on easy street last time does not mean that they've got the games in the bag. The Gamemakers might not be deliberately trying to kill her and prevent a revolution, but they're definitely watching out to make sure that she doesn't figure out their patterns._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 11: Screams in the Dark**

Katniss suddenly shifted into a heavily analytical mode as she contemplated Vex's words. If the arena was a clock and every hour brought a new horror, they needed to go counterclockwise to fight it. On the other hand, sooner or later they would meet back up with the horrors and get caught in one, but perhaps they would be able to see it coming. She suggested it to Vex, but she just shook her head.

"If we just missed the blood rain, then let's make camp here," she suggested, "if my theory really is true, then we have about 12 hours before we need to do anything else again. The big tree here isn't about to get struck by lightning, and we have water. I take it people in '12 are just as used to going hungry as people in '11?"

"How do you all go hungry?" Katniss realized that she didn't even know much about District 12's sister-district. "you're surrounded by food. That's your job, isn't it?"  
"I don't know how the Peacekeeps behave in your district," Vex quipped, "but in '11, they're not afraid to whip you or shoot you on sight if they catch you eating anything outside of what they give you. If it's supposed to go to the Capitol—like almost all of our food is—then by the cracks of District 8, it's going to the Capitol.

"There's no black market or anything for that sort of thing?" Katniss tilted her head, thinking back to the Hob back in her own district. To her slight surprise, Vex smirked.

"Rumors have it that the Peacekeeps are so anal because they know we're hiding something and they can't find it," she explained, "see, the secret is to not get caught. Many of us—myself included, have recognized and figured out how things work among the Peacekeeps, and so we know how to avoid them. They're too fixated on following protocol that they don't mix things up enough. The Boss makes sure things run smoothly for us common folk."

"See…" Katniss began, "Talk like that could get parts of '12 razed. Our Peacekeepers are fairly lax, but the Capitol still watches us like a hawk in case of a rebellion or something." On the other hand, she wondered who this "Boss" was. Was it a Peacekeeper turned rogue, or was it just an influential rebel-type figure in District 11 calling shots behind the Capitol's back? She hoped it was the latter, frankly.  
"Huh…" Vex paused, "we've never really had to worry about being bombed. I guess their food is more important than their pride."

"The same can't be said about coal," Katniss quipped. "so I guess we both lie low."  
"Seems like it," Vex chuckled. She decided not to mention that this was probably the most talkative she had ever seen Katniss, and in truth, she was probably right.

"A curious inquiry, if I may," Vex added a few moments later.

"Shoot," Katniss shrugged, although also used that as a moment to feel for her bow and quiver, ensuring that it was still with her.

"Are you an introvert by chance," Vex turned to the darker girl, who shrugged again and nodded.

"I guess I would be, huh," Katniss gazed at her feet for a moment. "I'm not really a people person."  
"I knew Rue Keniye, you know," Vex noted, "she was a part of our little group under the Boss. I lost a good friend that day—I can only imagine how painful it must have been to lose a sister."

"It destroyed me more than these stupid games ever could," Katniss sighed, "I guess that's why I'm here. I'm here to avenge and to survive."

"Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into then," Vex suggested. "let's follow the forcefield. If we reach another one of these giant trees, we know we've wandered too far."

Vex and Katniss wandered for a few hours and found nothing of importance. They had water and were both well accustomed to going without food, and so that was not a concern for them at all either. The hours passed by and the only thing unusual that they noticed was that there was a sweet smell in the air. What they did not realize was that it was an illusionary fog that distorted the tributes' sense of direction, and it was deliberately planted by the Gamemakers to throw Vex and Katniss off. During this time, they went into a convoluted circle that actually took them through several wedges of the arena before they finally came across another massive tree. Unbeknownst to them, this was the 3-o-clock tree, rather than the 11-o-clock tree that they thought they had encountered.

"Well here's the forcefield," Katniss pointed out, "let's follow it back to base so we don't get hit with anything."  
As a result, the two women followed the forcefield clockwise, reaching the 4-o-clock wedge and thinking that it was the 1-o-clock wedge. Soon it was evening, where the anthem began to play. Vex and Katniss sat down and got comfortable, watching the names of the people who had been slain that day.

The man from District 10 was the first victim, and was one that Katniss had claimed the life of. She was surprised when the District 7 woman showed up next, meaning she had scored her 2nd kill before anyone else had even scored a first. Next came the man from District 9, followed by the man from District 5. District 10 lost both tributes in the bloodbath, with the image of the woman appearing right afterwards. Katniss' 3rd kill, (the man from District 6) showed up next, followed by the man from District 12. It took Katniss a moment to remember that it was Levi. It wasn't that she had had much of an attachment to him though, so she shrugged it off. The only other kill after that was the woman from District 8, leaving 14 other tributes alive apart from her and Vex.

"Do you hear that?" Vex whispered shortly after the last tribute's face disappeared. Katniss nodded. There was something or someone in the trees.

"Nightfall is the best time to hunt," Katniss spoke up a moment later, drawing her bow, "especially if the cannons go off now. They're not about to re-play the anthem, so no one will know who died until tomorrow except for the killers themselves."

Without making a sound, Katniss nocked an arrow, gazing up into the dark canopy of trees before pointing her bow and letting loose. With nary a scream, a large object fell from the tree Katniss had shot at. Further investigation revealed that it was the body of the woman from District 9, and a cannon fired moments later.

"well look at you, Miss Murder," Vex chortled, "four kills out of eight. If you keep this up you'll have a dozen or so by the end of the games."

"If it ensures my survival I'll do just that," Katniss asserted, reverting a bit back to her old more hostile self prior to meeting Vex. The lighter-skinned girl remained quiet as she gauged Katniss' inner turmoil. She could tell that there were things weighing the District 12 girl down, but she didn't want to pry. It seemed Katniss already had enough of a temper as things stood.

"Do we want to keep watch?" Vex asked her, noting that they should probably rest soon, or at least in small increments. "or should we just take the risk?"  
"I'm already dead," Katniss shrugged, "I think we can survive just fine. Let's find something to take shelter under though—unless we want to get covered in more blood rain."

The two tributes found refuge and managed to sleep through most of the evening without situation. However, deep into the night, they were awoken by two very unpleasant sounds, the first of which being four gongs that sounded like they were coming from their area.

"Vex," Katniss' eyes widened, "I get the feeling that it's about 4:00 right now…"

"Did the gongs tip you off," Vex looked worried as well, and the two of them braced for whatever horror they were about to be trapped in. All they could hear at the moment was the sound of thousands of wings overhead. As Vex and Katniss crawled out from under their canopy, the birds soared down and began shrieking—except that the shrieking was unnaturally real, and the voices that they heard sounded frighteningly familiar.

Katniss knew at once that she was going mad when she heard Prim's voice—her cries for help. Adding to her anguish were the sounds of Peeta's promises which had been broken at the hands of last year's District 2 tribute Cato and victor Clove.

Vex recognized the birds as Jabberjays right away, but soon they put her through the same mental torture that they were putting Katniss through, with Vex suddenly screaming and taking off running in what turned out to be a clockwise direction. Figuring that maybe Vex could find a way out that she couldn't, Katniss bolted right after her, only for the two of them to slam head-on into a (thankfully) non-electrical forcefield that divided the wedges during the horrors, where they fell sprawling onto their backs.

They submitted, fearing the worst, but the birds did not physically attack—instead they continued a mental assault on Vex and Katniss' mind that had both of the girls losing all will to fight.


	12. Chapter 12: Revealing the Past

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Apologies for the delay and lack of a post muse decided to go on strike and I only just now got it back. Considering that I flaked on this one and my other regularly-scheduled fic, I feel like I owe at least this much. Back on topic though, a few stories get exchanged between our two heros, and we get a little taste of just what's going on in Katniss' mind through all this._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 12: Revealing the Past**

What seemed like hours on end was actually only about half an hour, giving the tributes a bit of downtime before the next horror started. It was also a good way to throw them off, for if a tribute could hear the sounds of the next horror starting right away and know to avoid it. With a few minutes of downtime, there was more of a chance to accidentally wander into one of the Gamemakers' traps.

It was only after the birds subsided that Vex and Katniss realized how hungry they were. Still shaken from the trauma of the voices, it took them several minutes before they got moving again.

"Let's head to the beach," Katniss suggested, "between these horrific traps and the careers, I'll take my chance against the careers."

The careers were deadly, but at this point, Katniss felt like she was already dead anyways. The mental anguish was a far worse choice for her than dealing with physical pain and combat. Besides—there was always a chance she could win her physical battles. Her emotional battles were losing fights that were not even worth the effort.

She and Vex managed to hack their way through the jungle, and heard 5 gongs go off in the distance. Luckily, if something happened in the wedge they were in, they either did not notice it, or were not in the right wedge. The latter appeared to be the case, which allowed the two tributes to reach the beach without further incident. The cornucopia was deserted, which kind of made sense considering that there hadn't really been anything there besides weapons, and most of the useful ones had long since been picked clean.

Katniss and Vex decided to camp at the cornucopia to see if anyone would come their way. Soon the sun began to set, and during this time only one other cannon went off. As the sun finally set, the tributes got to see their victims for the night. The first one was the District 9 woman that Katniss had slain, and the other was the woman from District 6, putting that district out of the running this year.

"10 down, 14 more to go," Vex smirked; "are you still in it, Katniss?"

"Of course," she nodded, "I might be already dead, but I'm not giving up without a fight."

The next morning was a viciously rude awakening. Both girls were jolted awake by the cornucopia platform suddenly spinning rapidly, clearly designed to throw them off, both in terms of figuring out their sense of direction, and in literally being thrown off the plateau and into the water around them.

"VEX!" Katniss screamed as Vex nearly was sent flying, but she rooted her blades into the ground and Katniss clung to her for dear life. The spinning continued until Katniss was flung off and into the water. Vex, figuring the spinning would stop once she let go, jumped in after her just to make sure she was okay. This proved to be a good thing, as water had gone straight up Katniss' nose and gave her a burning sensation in her sinuses and the surrounding area. Since Vex was able to properly hold her breath before jumping, the same did not happen to her, and she managed to swim to Katniss and keep her conscious. Sure enough, as Vex and Katniss surfaced in the water, they noticed the cornucopia platform slowing to a stop. Now no one was sure if the tail pointed at the 12-o-clock wedge or if it was a different one entirely—and since they didn't have any food or water with them, it meant it was time for another hunt—and another dance with death in the jungle.

Katniss and Vex hunted for anything edible, finding only a few rat-like creatures. Whatever they were, they cooked well, and since both women were from impoverished districts on the brink of starvation, neither one was picky about what they ate. The fact that it tasted decent and didn't poison them was good enough in their books. The spile was a godsend since it allowed them to have fresh water instead of the unappealing saltwater that comprised every lake and body of water in the arena.

As they drank their fill, Katniss couldn't help but wonder something as she glanced over at Vex.

"What ever happened to your partner?" she asked, "I don't remember seeing his face in the sky."  
"he's probably around somewhere," Vex shrugged, "that's kind of how District 11 is. We haven't lost a kid in the bloodbath for years."

It was true that there was something to be said about the strength and resilience of the District 11 tributes. Katniss wished she could say the same about District 12 tributes, but they had a tendency to be hit and miss. A lot of the kids in the last few years had been bloodbath fodder, but she heard stories from a generation ago during years like the 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th Hunger Games, where not a single female tribute from District 12 took lower than 8th.

"I guess most of our memorable tributes are dead," Katniss shrugged, "the most memorable one besides Haymitch was a kid named Zefira from about 48 years ago."  
"What'd she do?" Vex raised a curious eyebrow"

"No one's really sure," Katniss thought about it, "except that somehow she managed to make bombs and grenades from materials in the arena, and she terrorized the career pack with them."  
"Ooooh," Vex's eyes lit up, "I've heard of that kid. She traumatized the victor girl from District 2 pretty bad that year. Don't underestimate yourself or your district, Everdeen. There's a formidable force to be reckoned with behind that soot and grime."

They were interrupted suddenly, as Jackson (recognized by the 11 on his uniform) came bolting right through their camp, and then a man from District 8 appeared moments later in hot pursuit.

"For you, Vex," Katniss drew his bow as the man zipped by them without even noticing, allowing Katniss to flawlessly shoot him in the back. The arrow struck his spine, dropping him immediately and causing a cannon to fire. Surprisingly, Jackson didn't come back that way, which had Katniss confused.

"If something in this terrifying arena suddenly killed your pursuer," Vex quipped as the hovercraft came in to pick up the District 8 tribute's body a moment later, "would you try to turn around and greet it, or keep running in case it comes for you next?"

"That would depend on what I was running from and why," Katniss shrugged, "I'm already dead anyways, even if I win this game."

"Alright," Vex sighed, "I'll bite. What are you getting at?"

"I'm alone," Katniss explained, "I've got nothing else going for me apart from my mother who is just as distant and messed up in the head as me. Everything and everyone I ever loved was taken—and now I've made the mistake of befriending you."

"Hey," Vex put a hand on Katniss' jaw to gently turn the woman's head towards her. "I'm not going to force you to kill me. Hell, I won't even fight you if that's what you want. Maybe Sagittaria's been rubbing off on me a bit much, but I like you—I want to see you thrive."  
"And what about yourself?" Katniss looked somewhat skeptical, "surely you're in it to win it."  
"Well of course," Vex laughed, "but I didn't exactly want to go and say that I would volunteer to kill you if you and I were the last two left."

"It crossed my mind…" Katniss began, before they suddenly heard five gongs again. Almost as if it was a malevolent or divine prank, an invisible forcefield appeared right between Katniss' legs, pushing her to one side, with Vex on the other. They wondered what side of the wedge was about to face the horrors. Katniss had a gut feeling that she was the safe one—if the horrors moved clockwise and they were walking and facing away from the cornucopia, that meant that Vex, who was to her left, would be caught in the wedge, while she was on the border of the 6-o-clock wedge.

A moment later, she screamed as Vex was swallowed up by shadow.

"VEX!" For some reason the notion of losing Vex to this horror seemed scarier as Katniss watched it happen. Furthermore, gazing up at a column of pitch darkness was a rather daunting site. She pounded on the forcefield wall, hoping it would give way, where surprisingly, it did. Katniss tumbled into the shadows, immediately groping her way around before remaining stock-still. In truth, the forcefield had dissipated after Vex wandered deeper into the void, and so once she was away from the wall, it disappeared, allowing Katniss to stumble into it. Squinting or trying to allow her eyes to adjust to this darkness did nothing to help, and so Katniss remained frozen where she was, hoping that it would end in an hour or sooner. She did not want to know what horror lay in the wedge she was in before that.

She thought about calling out for Vex, but didn't want to give away her position to anything or anyone that might be lurking there. It seemed that that would not be a problem for her though—for right then, another cannon went off.


	13. Chapter 13: The Solution is Violence

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Sorry for yet another delay. I feel bad for lying about last week, but the story will go on, so fear not. This week was particularly busy, and to top it all off, I was busting my A to try and get my pharmacy technician license renewed, and so there was a lot of that. Story-wise, Katniss has a suicidal streak going through her mind, despite her stellar performance thus far. These games are already taking their toll on her._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 13: The Solution is Violence**

Katniss remained completely motionless, fearing that Vex might have just met her demise at the hands of the careers or by some other tribute. Maybe Jackson had accidentally killed her, thinking she was someone else? Maybe it had been someone else, but who? Were the careers even in this wedge at all? For now, all she wanted to do was try and wait it out with the hopes that Vex was still alive.

It was about half an hour later when the darkness finally dissipated, giving the tributes a change to potentially get lost again and possibly wander into the 6th wedge when that horror started. Katniss glanced around and saw nothing moving, and so she called out.

"Vex?" she called out, and to her surprise and relief, Vex showed her face not too far away from where Katniss was crouched. Her right arm was flecked with blood.

"Are you alright?" Katniss' eyes widened.

"I'm fine," Vex glanced at her arm a moment before her eyes met Katniss' again, "I offed a guy from District 7… felt someone brush against me and drew my knife without hesitation. Looking back it might have been a stupid move. What if it had been you?"

"My death would not be consequential," Katniss shrugged, "If an opportunity for me to die without going out of my way to do so came up, I would take it—but I'm glad you're okay. Let's get out of here."

Vex frowned at Katniss' attitude, but figured that there was more to it that she was not letting on about, and so for the time being she let it go, and the two tributes moved on.

"Well damn," Vex spoke up again after a while of walking, "12 tributes are dead, and you've killed 5 of them on your own. What's your secret?"  
"Staying alive," Katniss shrugged, "and saving my actual arrows for the career pack."

"How many do you think we could off?"

"Between the two of us… we could probably get them all. You could distract 'em while I shoot, and after they come for me you could pick 'em off. I'm expendable, remember?"

"I still don't get that attitude, Everdeen," Vex shrugged, "but if it helps you sleep well at night…"  
"I'm in a death arena. There's no such thing as sleeping well at night unless I want to get attacked by one of these horrors…"

It was later that evening when they made camp, feasting on some rodent-like creatures that Katniss had sniped, and using water from the spile to help wash it down. The face of the man from District 7 appeared in the sky as a hologram, and day 3 came to an end.

Day 4 was almost eventless apart from a rude awakening they got at 2AM. Katniss was on the receiving end of a kick to the back of the neck, only to see Vex's golden hair disappearing into the jungle as she fled from the menacing mist behind her.

"THE FOG IS POISON, RUN!" she glanced back just in time to see Katniss come to her senses.  
An acrid smell filled the air, and Katniss didn't even need to think twice before running. She could feel it eating away at her boots—hopefully they would last at least till they reached the boundary between the wedges. They were successful in this endeavor, but Katniss and Vex both found the soles of their bootxs completely gone, thus ruining their purpose. Heaving sighs of relief and kicking off their now useless footwear, the two chuckled.

"Well… now I'm awake all of a sudden."  
"Damn," Katniss swore. "me too,"

But, despite their wandering, nothing happened to the point where they fell back asleep again. The fact that they woke up later in the day without having been hit by blood rain or by whatever was between the fog and the jabberjays meant that they were alive and well—for now.

Other than Vex swearing that she saw Surge and Elsa wandering through the jungle by jumping through the trees, Day 4 was uneventful, and so was most of morning 5. By the afternoon though, after realizing that they were in the wedge with the lightning tree, Katniss realized that they needed to get back to the beach. Vex agreed on this count, but warned against staying there too long.

"Fish doesn't sound like too bad an option right now," the darker girl pointed out, "but we should avoid the cornucopia—last thing we need is the Gamemakers doing a few dozen 1080s on us and flinging us into the water."

"Sounds like a solid plan to me," Vex agreed, and so they ventured to the cornucopia, where they managed to spear a fish or two, and then ended up encountering Jackson. He recounted the story of a guy pursuing him, only for Katniss and Vex to both laugh.

"This kid right here?" Vex thumbed towards Katniss, "she saved your ass by shooting his."  
"I'm not against you coming with us, really," Katniss shrugged, "It's not going to matter in the end." Despite her 'given-up' style attitude, there was a primal drive to survive embedded deeply within Katniss Everdeen's genetic code that she simply could not fight. Tributes had committed suicide in the arena, and many of them were even skilled at making it look like an accident. Katniss felt like she could pull that off if she really wanted to. Who would miss her? Her mother was already far gone and cared for nothing—much how she felt right now too. Her father had passed years ago. Her sister Primrose had died the previous year in another arena, and so there wasn't even her to lament Katniss' loss. The boy who had loved her—Peeta Mellark, had died that same year. Really, that just left Gale, but he was growing ever more distant ever since he had started working the long shifts in the mines. It made him understandably crankier, but Katniss hadn't exactly been sunshine and rainbows either for at least the last year or so.

The three tributes trekked backwards through the arena, all the way until sundown, where no more faces appeared in the sky. It made sense considering the lack of cannons that had gone off that day, but that meant to Katniss that it was opportune killing time—to give her enemies the question of who had been offed that they would now have to wait 23 hours to learn the answer to.

It was not long after that when the trio were back on their feet again, narrowly missing the horror of the 9th hour: The ground beneath their feet began to collapse, taking everything with it into a fiery abyss. Just like with the darkness in the 5th wedge or the poisonous fog in the 2nd wedge, the collapsing ground stopped at an invisible barrier that the tributes hoped marked the line for the 8-o-clock horror instead of the 10-o-clock one, because otherwise they had just walked out of a frying pan and into a fire.

"Let's just hope we don't sleep 11 hours," Jackson quipped. This frantic flee for their lives had not been as hectic as the one Vex and Katniss had experienced when fleeing from the fog, but it was still a little jarring to see the jungle get consumed by a fiery abyss. It was weirder still to see the land come back up less than an hour later as 10 gongs went off in the distance.

"I'm ready for bed." Vex quipped, and the others followed suit.

Jackson was misfortunate enough to be the first one to wake up, which made him the victim of the woman from District 5's knife. With nary a cry, he fell back down, although landed atop Katniss' body, waking her up. When the cannon went off, she realized what happened and remained motionless.

"Fuck this shit," She grunted, grabbing her bow. Subtly rolling Jackson's corpse off of her, she remained in the tall grass, listening for the sounds of movement, just as she did when she hunted. Seconds later she sprung up, arrow nocked, and launched it right between the woman's eyes, firing another cannon immediately afterwards. This was what finally woke up Vex, who was naturally startled to see her partner dead at Katniss' feet, and her bow in her hands. Luckily it did not take much explaining.

"That girl over there knifed him," Katniss pointed, "and so I shot her."  
"Sheesh," Vex shook her head, "at this rate the games will be over before a week has passed."  
"Hopefully it doesn't even take that long," Katniss grunted, now wide awake and too shaken to try and sleep again, "Kale and Kiera will probably go next, and then we can swarm the career pack. It's simple."  
"I don't think six on two is that easy," Vex paused a moment before catching her mistake, "but I suppose that's why you said simple and not easy."

"Exactly," Katniss nodded, "now let's get out of here before we get caught in another trap. For all we know that girl might have pushed us back 20 feet into the border of the abyss wedge again."

"Sound enough reasoning," Vex laughed, "let's go."

5 days in, 14 tributes dead (6 of which were by Katniss' hand), and only 10 more remained, including the six-strong career pack. It was hard to tell who the odds were favoring at the moment, but it was clear that Katniss Everdeen was leaving an impression on Panem, the districts, and the Gamemakers alike.


	14. Chapter 14: The Rise of Black Death

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _I know, I know-this one was and is terribly late. Life, a lack of inspiration, and NaNoWriMo took over. Either way, fear not. The story will continue and will eventually finish as well. It's been a bumpy ride for Katniss and it only gets worse from here. She hasn't even finished her ordeal in the arena and she's already suffering depression. As such, this is a fairly grim chapter at times. Also... we learn what the careers are nicknaming Katniss, as if that wasn't already fairly obvious enough._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 14: The Rise of Black Death**

The next few days consisted of Katniss and Vex hunting for the other tributes, and also trying to make sure they were concealed in either the 5th wedge, or safely in the 12th wedge far away from the lightning tree. On the 6th evening, Katniss made the mistake of stopping in the 11th wedge, where they were nearly torn apart by these large insects with loud, clicking pinchers, but the two escaped before the swarm could tear their flesh from their bones. Nights 7 and 8 were thankfully not as eventful, but day 9 started with another cannon going off.

"Any bets that it was '4?" Vex suggested. Katniss nodded with a frown.

"As much as I wish it was either Winter or Wallace… I think you're right." She indicated, "chances are one of the district 4 people just went down."

"We should get moving then," Vex suggested, "if '4 just got split up, it probably means the survivor either joined the careers or just got killed by them."

The afternoon plodded on, with Vex and Katniss making their way to the 5th wedge and this time getting it right. As the darkness encircled them, they heard other footsteps and movements.  
"I've got this," Katniss whispered, drawing her bow.

"Allow me…" Vex interceded, drawing a knife. They shifted around until they heard the slow and subtle signs of someone sneaking through the dense brush, before Vex's knife left her hand. It whistled through the air, striking flesh with nary more than a slight gasp. It was male by the sound of it, which meant if it was from District 4, that his partner had been the one to die earlier. A cannon fired, meaning that Vex and Katniss were alone again.

"Farewell Kale and Kiera," Katniss whispered. Sure enough, when the darkness subsided, Kale's body was not too far away from where the two girls had hunkered down for the hour, and from it, Vex retrieved her knife before the hovercraft came to pick it up. A few hours later their theory on Kiera was verified as they saw her face, shortly followed by Kale's, appear in the sky.

"Well, I guess this is the end of the line then, huh?" Katniss turned to her partner.

"Not while there are still six career tributes left," Vex elbowed her, "I'm not turning on you while they're alive, you know. What kind of friend would do that?"  
"A friend in the Hunger Games, perhaps?" Katniss attempted to remind her, but the truth had plunged itself into Katniss' heart like a dagger. Vex was her friend, and so if Katniss somehow survived this hellish arena, she would have to cope with losing yet another person close to her. These kinds of thoughts were exactly why Katniss felt suicidal even in the arena, although she did not mention this to Vex.

"that's not something I'm going to bother thinking about until it becomes necessary," Vex asserted, "in the meantime, I've got your back, Katniss—even if you don't even want that help."  
"I've lost too many people important to me," Katniss sighed, "I've tried to distance myself from you for that same reason, Vex. Even if I win, it means I'll have lost you—my first real friend in years." The only other friend Katniss could consider herself having was Gale, but she had become friends with him years ago, and now that he was old enough to evade the Hunger Games, he worked full time at the mines to provide for his mother and siblings. Prim had obviously been one of Katniss' dear friends, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that perhaps Peeta Mellark could have been a saving grace for her if his feelings towards her were anything like the way he had treated Prim in the arena the year before. However, all of that was water under the bridge now, and the only person left for Katniss was Vex, and one or both of them were doomed to die in this arena.

"Cheer up, Everdeen," Vex ruffled Katniss' hair, "I don't think these games are going to last more than a few more day anyways, and then it'll all be over." She paused, "well, the games will be. I think either way whoever wins is going to be messed up in the head for life, but I guess that's what happens when we get signed up for this sort of thing."  
"I volunteered," Katniss reminded her glumly.

"Well then—who did you volunteer for?" Vex tilted her head.  
"Her name was Naisha," Katniss explained, "she had a young boy in her arms and a baby on the way. There's no way I could let someone like get put here. I'm mostly surprised that I of all people was the first one to have enough gall to speak up."  
"No one ever volunteers outside of Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5." Vex quipped, "I don't even think anyone in '12 or '11 would have thought it was possible."

"She's got something left to live for." Katniss mumbled, "I don't."

"Hey," Vex put her hand under Katniss' chin, "I'm not going to try and tell you to cheer up, because I understand what you're going through. There's depression in your eyes and I've seen it from the start. Don't confuse my optimism for naiveté here, Everdeen. There's something going on in there that I can't fully fathom, but I see it in the way you behave. You hardly eat, you sleep very sporadically. You've told me you've got suicidal thoughts. You've told me the story of your sister and how you couldn't save her. If anything, I feel like an ass now for not realizing it sooner."  
"That's why I think you deserve to win." Katniss asserted, "Look, I know it's hard, but you're the best fighter in the arena right now. Don't start something only not to finish it. If you didn't let it get the best of you for the last 8 days, just hold in there a little longer, alright? If it makes you feel any better, I'll let you decide who gets to go home after we take out the careers."

Katniss sighed again. If she could do it for Naisha, a stranger whom she had never formally met, then perhaps she could stay strong for Vex, another stranger she had just barely met, for just a while longer. Unbeknownst to her, the Capitol had not only caught this entire scene on camera, but it had been broadcast as a highlight of the evening. At once, sponsors in the Capitol began lining up to offer their support to Katniss Everdeen. The notion of a tribute sacrificing something for another tribute was extremely rare, and almost unheard of between districts. Over in District 11, the crowds gave the District 12 salute to their screens in honor of Katniss, even if most of them were still rooting for Vex. It was clear that even if Katniss Everdeen was slain in combat, that she would not be so easily forgotten.

The remainder of the evening went by without event, although Katniss and Vex used this time to gather food, water, and supplies and make their way to the cornucopia. Vex questioned Katniss' incentive, but she had an answer waiting.

"Not to say that the darkness isn't an easy horror to endure," she remarked, "but if I can kill people in the dark then so can Elsa, Surge, Winter, Wallace, Tarin, and Titania. I'd rather have a nice wide-open view of the field in the evenings."

"Do you think they'll spin the cornucopia again to fling us off?" Vex warned.

"Maybe if they want to be boring and predictable," Katniss aimed this subtle jab at the Gamemakers as if challenging them to surprise her again. "I'll take the risk. I'm exhausted."  
"Makes sense, really," Vex agreed, following the darker girl towards the center of the arena again. If Katniss really had depression, it would explain her fatigue both from her mental condition and her sporadic sleeping. Now that the horrors were over, it was time to rest.

The Career pack had camped around the lightning tree staying away from it as the 12 gongs went off, and then otherwise held down their camp. They heard a slow rumbling from the center of the arena, but as Elsa's ears twitched, she listened closely for any sign of impending danger. The rumbling continued for about three minutes before stopping, and everything fell silent again.

"Black death?" Winter muttered. Elsa shook her head.

"She'd be much quieter than that," the District 3 girl reassured them, "that was something the Gamemakers did for sure—hopefully to get her and Vex."

'Black Death': that was what they were calling Katniss now, due to her deadly attacks and high kill count. The careers were on the prowl, but remained wary of Katniss's stealth attacks. On the other hand, their guess was as good as anyone's regarding the noise at the center of the arena. In truth what had happened was that after Katniss and Vex fell asleep, the Gamemakers spun the cornucopia again to throw them off. However, instead of spinning it violently and watching them get flung into the water, they rotated it a few times before stopping it with the tail now pointing at the 9th wedge instead of the 12th one. Because of the thick jungle surrounding them and the rotational symmetry of the center arena, there was no way to tell unless they had witnessed it. Vex and Katniss would be in for a surprising awakening the next morning…


	15. Chapter 15: A Catalyst for Death

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Like all my other fics, NaNoWriMo took all my attention from this one, and for a while, Katniss was also very uncooperative. On the other hand, these games are very fast paced compared to some of my other ones because the hazards force the tributes to keep on their toes. The Games might be compartively short as a result, but I have a lot planned for afterwards and the victory tour. Our victor is not going to be in very good shape when all is said and done, and it will show._ _In the meantime, apologies for the delay. We get a bit of Haymitch and Effie up in here too, since they're still around as well.  
Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 15: A Catalyst for Death**

Katniss and Vex woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. Even with the position of the sun, it was hard to tell what time it was, since Vex theorized that it "rose" from different angles every day. This was actually the case according to the Gamemakers, but she wouldn't ever find this out unless she crawled out of the arena alive. With 8 tributes remaining, she still had considerable odds to fight against if she wanted to survive.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Vex chortled as she began playing with Katniss' hair in the hopes of gently waking her up. "we've got a whole lot of killing to do if we don't want to end up as lunch for the careers. I heard that those District 2 kids started eating the last tribute they killed."  
"Are you shitting me?" Katniss grumbled as she sat up, an incredulous expression on her face.

"I am, actually," Vex laughed, "the last time a kid tried to eat other tributes, she "accidentally" got killed by an arena hazard. The guy before her that tried it some odd years ago died the same way. Those were no accidents."

"Honestly, trying to imagine Winter feasting on your flesh is not exactly the image I want to wake up to, Vex." Katniss frowned, "but let's not think about it. We've got to find a way to bring them to us."  
"Not when we're out in the open we don't," Vex shook her head, "let's get moving."  
True to the Gamemaker's conjectures, Katniss and Vex headed straight out into the water from the cornucopia's tail, knowing that it would eventually lead to one of the great trees that lined the edges of the arena. What they did not realize, however, was that they were en route to the 9th tree instead of the 12th one. As such, when they counted 5 trees clockwise from their original position, this positioned them at 2-o-clock instead of 5-o-clock. The gongs were tricky—they seemed to only go off in the wedge the horror was in (although could be heard from the borders of the neighboring wedges), and as such, it took Katniss and Vex less than a second to realize that they were in trouble the moment only two gongs went off in their area.

"2-o-clock was…" Vex began, glancing around,

"The fog!" Katniss exclaimed, remembering it right away even if it hadn't shown up yet, "RUN!"

Some wedges kept a forcefield up to trap the tributes inside of it, while others seemed to allow them a method of escape. Katniss and Vex saw the fog approaching from outside of the arena borders, and so scrambled to the left, hoping to make it to the previous wedge so they wouldn't stumble into the next wedge's trap. This backfired against them, as the forcefield was up. The Gamemakers knew what they were trying to do.

Vex and Katniss followed the barrier as swiftly as they could, heading back to the cornucopia in the hopes of finding a way out of the fog before it reached them and burned their flesh. It took them all the way to the beach, where the two girls threw themselves into the water to reduce the swelling on some of the boils that had begun to erupt from coming in contact with the fog.

"I think…" Vex wheezed, "we need… a better way to find out what part of the arena we're in."

"no shit," Katniss panted, "but that's easier said than done."

Eyes were on Vex and Katniss, but they were not the eyes of the careers. The Gamemakers were watching them closely, as were the Capitol citizens that placed bets on the tributes. Haymitch was watching Katniss closely, realizing that she very well could stand a chance against Winter and the rest of the careers. Now that he had some emotional investment in Katniss, he wanted to help her win. 25 years without a victor was far too long for him, and so while a few of his motives were selfish, Haymitch did also genuinely hope to bring Katniss home. He spent nearly an hour on the floor negotiating with sponsors to try and line something up for Katniss, but it was his final words that attracted attention.

"You may not be too terribly fond of Katniss Everdeen," he reasoned, "or her attitude. You might not even know much about who she is. But I know that after everything that's gone down in that arena in the last few days, you're all watching the girl from District 12."

It was not much in the way of moving speeches, but Haymitch did manage to line up a sponsor gift or two for Katniss, and his 'rousing speech' did get the attention of Effie after Haymitch had gone up to the break room for a drink.

"For someone who drinks first and talks second, that wasn't half bad a speech," Effie quipped.

"I'm surprised you even know what a speech is," Haymitch jabbed at her, taking a swig from his flask.

"With how much alcohol you drink I'm surprised you were able to speak at all instead of mumbling and slurring your words the way you do. I told you learning manners would work out well for you."

"It's not over yet," Haymitch grunted, "she's still got 7 tributes to go. I think I've got a little something that could catalyze the process though."

Katniss was set to learn what this catalyst was within a few minutes. As they trekked near the cornucopia, they glanced at the direction the tail was facing before making a hard right before the Gamemakers could find another way to throw them off. They kept their noses perked in case they smelled that sweet-smelling fog that seemed to distort their sense of direction. This time the Gamemakers left them alone, however. They recognized that Vex and Katniss were on the prowl and wanted them to find their targets.

"Someone wants you to win it looks like," Vex pointed up. floating towards them from the jungle canopies was a somewhat large package with a number 12 on it. Surprisingly, as Katniss snatched it and began to open it, she noticed another slightly smaller one with a number 11 on it.

"It's like my birthday came early," Vex quipped, "it's a pity I probably won't live to see 23."

"I'm not even going to see 18," Katniss elbowed her, opening her package, "count your lucky stars, Vex."

"Live it up, Everdeen." Vex opened her canister to reveal a pair of jagged black daggers lined with blood-red streaks. "Well I'll be damned—didn't think I'd ever see knives this cool again."  
"those look familiar," Katniss paused in the process of opening her own gift.

"Rue had a pair of them last year," Vex pointed out, "she wasn't just a dangerous kid, but she was a stylish dangerous kid. These might even be the same ones, depending on if the Capitol reuses old weapons from earlier games or not."

Katniss glanced at the daggers in Vex's hands. She had not really ever gotten to know Rue, but had respected the girl just as much as she had respected Peeta—both of them had allied with her sister and had tried to protect her. Rue had been the one to throw her life out on the line multiple times with often crazy stunts against the careers that had nearly worked.

"What did you get, by the way?" Vex brought Katniss back to reality. Katniss jumped, slightly startled, but opened her package, revealing a sleek silver bow and some arrows to go with it. She actually smirked when she saw these, and the note that accompanied them.

" _Thank them for their consideration." ~H_

"Looks like I got a bow," Katniss smirked. "I was hoping I'd get another one. I can't even remember where I lost my other one."  
However, she paused after answering Vex's question. After reading Haymitch's note, Katniss' mind immediately flashed back to her training session, where she told Vex the story.

"I went in, shot an apple out of the pig's mouth, and then shot an arrow at that arrow. It took only about 38 seconds, and then I walked out."

"That's how you got a 12 then?" Vex laughed, "I like you a lot more now, Everdeen."  
The two tributes camped out near the beach and waited a few hours until the anthem played. No deaths had occurred, and so no faces appeared in the sky. It was shortly after this point that they made their moves. Migrating deeper into the jungle, they knew that the career pack was likely camping out in this wedge since apart from the large tree at the end of the arena, the 12th wedge was generally safe.

"Stay quiet," Katniss warned, "I see them." she nocked an arrow, letting it fly. Tarin never saw it coming as is truck him between the eyes, and he dropped without a sound. The cannon went off, but the careers only stirred.

"Round… 2," Katniss smirked as she let another arrow fly, this one aimed at Elsa (since she was the only one in decent range that was not obscured). She was struck with a mortal wound which would later grant Katniss her 8th kill, but let out a scream before she died, waking the others.  
"Pretend it's the fog and run!" Katniss shouted, taking off into the jungle, not even caring what way they were going. The careers were awake and after them immediately. Even with two members less than they had had moments ago, they were still a threat that, if they managed to catch up with Katniss, would result in her untimely demise…


	16. Chapter 16: The End of an Era

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _And as the games draw nearer and nearer to a close, more people are going to start dying, including career tributes, as well as Katniss and Vex's alliance being severed-although that was/is inevitable. There is only one victor after all. I'm not normally one to put song lyrics in my stories, but when it's a song that's from the actual universe, I am willing to sometimes make an exception. As such, I'll just throw in the disclaimer that I don't own the lyrics of "The Hanging Tree" or any of that stuff, yada yada._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 16: The End of an Era**

The remaining careers continued their hot pursuit of the two women. Vex proved to be alarmingly fast, although Katniss' own agility, coupled with her thin, agile frame, made her a tricky target that they knew they would have to corner at melee range. Katniss made sure that she fled in a counterclockwise direction as to prevent getting caught in another of the arena hazards. The career pack was gaining on them and she knew that they were in it to win it. There would be no running this time.

Surge was the swiftest one of the group, with Winter darting from tree to tree, bent on catching her quarry this time. Vex and Katniss did not stray very far from each other, but a quick glance over her shoulder told her that Surge was going for Vex, which meant that Winter was likely coming for her. she did not know what had become of Wallace and Titania, but hoped not to have an encounter with them.

"VEX!" The next time she glanced towards her fairer-skinned partner, she saw the District 11 woman locked in combat with the dangerously swift man from District 3. Both of them wielded knives, meaning they were right up in each other's faces trying to cue each other open or make jabbing movements to lacerate or debilitate the other. Katniss nocked an arrow, aiming into the brush, but Surge and Vex were swift enough that their movements were inconsistent. The trees and brush also made getting a clear shot a little trickier, and so Katniss moved around, shifting carefully on her feet, to find a good spot. Surge seemed aware Katniss was aiming at him (or trying to), and so he tried to make sure Vex was positioned between himself and Katniss' arrow. Despite this challenge, the archer managed to dig her bare feet into the ground after a few moments as she got a clear shot at the District 3 man. Right as Katniss pulled the string back, she felt a powerful force collide with the right side of her skull, sending the arrow off into the trees and Katniss sprawling to the floor. Winter was on top of her, a contented smirk appearing on the District 2 woman's face.

"I can't even say I'm mad at you at this point," she taunted, "8 kills and making it into the final 5… now that's actually rather impressive."

"I knew I was dead from the start," Katniss shrugged, "there's really no point in adding to your heartache when you kill me."

Winter paused, glancing at Surge. Katniss' hands were pinned beneath the more muscular girl's weight, "on the other hand, it seems you chose a skilled partner. Surge and I thought we could handle it ourselves, but we might have actually picked a good fight."  
Katniss craned her neck to try and catch a glimpse of Surge and Vex fighting in the brush. Both of them seemed equally matched, which made it hard for even the Capitol to tell who would come out on top.

"Well, you might as well kill me now." Katniss pointed out, "I don't think my little friend Vex is about to come save me now. She turns her head just once and Surge does her in."

However, to both Katniss and Winter's surprise, that was exactly what Vex did when she noticed the larger girl sitting on something, and Katniss being conspicuously absent. Taking one of her throwing knives, she pivoted and launched it towards Winter. The larger girl heard the knife whistle through the air, spinning around fast enough to prevent it from lodging itself in her spine, but since her hands had been holding Katniss down only split-seconds before, they were not fast enough to deflect the blade from sinking into her side, drawing a great deal of blood. She flinched just long enough for Katniss to kick her off and spring to her feet, but even then she was too late. Her theory on Surge rang true. The man had only needed that moment to plunge both of his blades into Vex's stomach.

"VEX!" Katniss cried out, not even worrying about Winter staggering away into the forest. All she could see was red, and Surge pulling his blades out of Vex's vitals. Immediately, she snatched up her bow and another arrow, sending it straight through Surge's skull before he could react. His cannon went off immediately, as Vex fell onto her back, bleeding out. That did not stop Katniss from frantically rushing to her side to try and see if she could save her.

She was no medical expert the way her sister Prim had been, but even Katniss could tell by the severity of the wound that it was mortal, and that she was witnessing Vex's final moments of life. Katniss couldn't care any less about where Winter was or what she was doing. What happened just now had been exactly what she had fought this whole time to try and avoid, because she knew that the heartache would come.

It was not to say that Katniss had fallen in love with Vex by any means, but they had forged an impressively strong friendship in the few short weeks they knew each other, as they fought their way through the treacherous arena hazards, evading the other tributes, and catching many of them by surprise. Vex glanced up at Katniss with weary eyes, and smiled slowly.

"I know you're gonna hate me for this…" she whispered with raspy breath, "but for some reason… saving you felt like the right thing to do…"  
"It wasn't," Katniss gritted her teeth to hold back the moisture in her eyes, "Vex, this is exactly the same kind of agonizing defeat I watched last year. You weren't supposed to do this!" She gripped Vex's shoulders frantically, and while Vex spat out a little blood, leaving the rest to dribble down her lip before she lay back down, "you were supposed to win… not sacrifice yourself for me…"  
"To do what?" Vex gave a wheezy chuckle, "let you sacrifice yourself for me? You deserve better, Everdeen. I don't think I'm about to be so easily forgotten…"

"Vex, dammit, you can't do this to me!" At this point Katniss was shamelessly crying as she knew her beloved friend was seeing her last moments of life. Even Effie and Haymitch frowned at what they were witnessing from the other side of the screen.

"You know, Ever—Katniss?" Vex spoke up again, although Katniss could see the life fading from Vex's blue eyes.

"You used my first name," a weird smile broke onto Katniss' face for a moment as she was struggling to hold back tears.

"I know," she coughed, "but more than that… I'm curious… about something."  
"What is this deathbed curiosity? Vex… why? Why are you doing this to me?"

"Blame Surge. But anyways… I always wondered—your voice is pretty when you're not grunting or growling. Can you sing?"  
Katniss paused, before slowly nodding. "It's not something I do very often though."  
"how familiar are you with The Hanging Tree?"  
Katniss froze, somewhat surprised that Vex was still holding out. There was truly something to be said about the durability and hardiness of those District 11 folks. "My father used to sing that song. Why?"  
"Could you sing it for me?" she whispered, "I just want to hear it… one last time…"  
"Where did you learn—" Katniss paused. She realized she was on a limited schedule, because Vex could die—right here, in Katniss' arms—at any given moment.

"We… know that song in '11… as well." Vex smiled. Katniss refused to waste any more time when each second was crucial. she wanted Vex to hear the song, and so Katniss began to sing.

" _Are you, are you, coming to the tree…  
Where they strung up a man, they say who murdered three;  
Strange things did happen here; no stranger would it be,  
if we met, at mid-night in the Hanging Tree."_

Vex coughed a little and Katniss cringed, anticipating the cannon firing, but Vex gave a weary smile and a nod, cuing Katniss to continue. Her words were trembly, but her tune was clear, and so she continued.

" _Are you, are you, coming to the tree…  
Where a dead man called—out for his love to flee;  
Strange things did happen here; no stranger would it be,  
if we met, at mid-night in the Hanging Tree."_

"That's… the one…" Vex whispered, "even if you're… a friend… in-stead…"

A cannon rang out, startling Katniss out of her traumatic stupor. She gently laid Vex's head back down in a softer patch of jungle growth, before rising to her feet. She took Vex's daggers—she would not be needing them anymore—and strung her bow back over her shoulder. Tears falling down her face and teeth gritted into something of an angry snarl, Katniss turned around and aimed to find the remaining careers. She paid no heed to the potential dangers that may have lurked in the arena, since she definitely no longer knew which wedge she was in; but at this point she could hardly care. She wanted these dreadful games to be over, and she vowed to slay the remainder of the career pack or go down in a blaze of glory trying.


	17. Chapter 17: The Slayer of Twelve

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Apologies again for the long hiatus. Life's been interesting and tricky lately for one reason or another, but I'm not about to go gushing about my personal problems, distractions, or procrastinations. Suffice to say, I am not giving up on this story. In fact... the games come to an end at long last. Similar to how they were in the books, the 75th Hunger Games were fast-paced and full of intensity here as well as they wrap up. While I'm sure most people who have read my other stories know who the victor is going to be, it's certainly not over just because the games ended. No... there's quite the rough road ahead for our dear victor-and as such, the title of this chapter is actually quite meaningful as well._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 17: The Slayer of Twelve**

Katniss gazed up at the sky, slightly surprised to see a holographic face through the trees.

 _Vex Greenwood, District 11…_

It seemed that the Capitol was certain that these games would end today. Katniss was quite okay with this notion, for better or for worse. Winter, Wallace, and Titania were the only things standing between Katniss and an assured victory. However, as she bulldozed her way through the arena, she gave some thought to what becoming a victor would be like. There was nothing for her to gain that she wanted. Winning would not bring Primrose, Peeta, Vex, or Rue back to life. Killing those last three tributes would not do it either. The only reason she wanted them dead was to give Vex some peace, if it even mattered.

Was her name just going to become a forgotten entity that no longer escapes someone's lips? There were very few tributes killed in the games that lasted very long unless the victor became super popular; and since social attention and popularity were aspects of life that Katniss vehemently shunned, she did not imagine that she was going to be anything short of miserable for many months and maybe even years to come.

The arena hazards, as well as the time of day, her current location, and even her own safety were all things that Katniss blatantly disregarded at this point. Either she would avenge Vex and emerge a victor, or she would go down fighting.

However, her idea of disregarding the potential arena hazards for each hour turned out to be a costly mistake. The jungle around her was suddenly ablaze, and Katniss found herself scrambling away to try and stay safe. She had this gut feeling that the arena was not following the hourly hazards anymore, and that the Gamemakers were triggering them as they saw fit in an attempt to bring the four remaining tributes together.

To make things more interesting, the Gamemakers had triggered the fog in the wedge where the careers had fled to, and in it, actually caused them to split up. What they did not realize was that this would in turn give Katniss a crippling advantage as she singled them out one by one to bring their lives to an end. She was in the zone—in a sort of mode where she was more than ready to kill anything and everything that moved.

Titania was the first victim of Katniss'. She took to the water to evade the fog, not realizing that Katniss was crouched in the shallow waters, with only her head visible in the dimming sky. Right at the water level, her bow was out and pointed at the exhausted career girl, who seemed to be trying to rub off nasty boils that she had incurred from the fog. Quietly pulling back the string, Katniss let her arrow fly mere inches above the water, where it cut through the air lodging itself in the girl's vitals. Staggering back into the water, Titania's body floated back up and remained motionless as Katniss slinked away to make her next kill. She could hear the hovercrafts already closing in behind her to pick up the body, but she was not going to go far. She felt like the center of the arena was usually where things started and where they ended. If she couldn't bring herself to Winter and Wallace… she would have to let the Gamemakers bring Winter and Wallace to her.

Despite what earlier bets and odds might have suggested, Katniss' odds of victory according to the Capitol were frighteningly high. However, her attitude dragged her down several points in that regard, as unlike the District 2 pair, Katniss' drive to win the games was negligible; she was going off of instinct, and her own will to survive—which unbeknownst to the Capitol, was stronger than the drive of most people in Panem.

Using the cornucopia to regain her bearings (the Gamemakers had not spun it again since the last time), Katniss gazed up at the sky again as if to verify what had happened.

 _Titania Summerdream, District 1…_

Feeling verified, she headed northward, figuring that the careers would be in either one of three places: the cornucopia clearing, which seemed to not be the answer; the 5th wedge, which was only plagued by darkness; or the 12th wedge, where only the tree at the fringe of the arena was dangerous. Figuring that they knew of her expertise in the dark, Katniss assumed they would try and head north, and so she followed the sounds of lightning, which grew ever louder as she trekked through the jungle.

She stopped to catch her breath, putting her hands on her hips right over Vex's old daggers that were now there. She knew that if she didn't stealth attack these tributes that she would have to resort to melee combat. She drew them out, anticipating her death or her 11th kill.

Wallace would be there to give Katniss her do-or-die moment. This was truly the Day of Reckoning for her as she watched the larger boy barrel through the jungle towards her, looking a bit worse for wear, but still strong enough to fight. He came at her with a large two-handed sword, but Katniss' agility kept her out of his reach. However, Wallace was fast enough that Katniss wouldn't have time to nock and fire an arrow, and the jungle around them was too dense to give her a wide enough area to sprint away. Instead, she knew that she would have to get right up in Wallace's face, and that was what she did. She stayed so close to him that he had to take the defensive from her lightning-swift slashes. There was a dangerous fire in Katniss' eyes that showed a drive to kill and a will to survive.

Moments later, Wallace lay dead at Katniss' feet as she stood over his corpse with two bloody daggers in her hands. Katniss gazed upwards through the trees as the cannon rang out, and sure enough, there was his face in the sky, signaling her 11th kill of the games.

 _Wallace Stone, District 2…_

Katniss' 12th and final kill would take her home, or her attempts at it would lead to her undoing. Only she and Winter remained, and while she was not as concerned with the outcome as her opponent, Katniss did want to get it over with, and so in the same fervent rush that she had discovered Wallace in, she raced through the jungle in the hopes of finding the last tribute.

To her surprise, she found Winter waiting near the beach, throwing knives in her hands. Katniss pulled out her bow without hesitation, causing Winter to throw one of the small blades. Swinging herself down and to the left, Katniss avoided losing her left eye to a throwing star, but the blade nearly grazed her arm, and knocked her arrow loose. An immediately follow-up severed her bowstring, which whiplashed and cut Katniss' right cheek open, smattering the side of her face with blood. Cursing under her breath, she wasted no time bringing out her knives. She had lost her edge with the bow, but her ferocity remained intact enough that it might give her an edge over Winter.

"I'm impressed you got Wallace, Black Death," Winter commented as metal collided. She was much faster than Wallace, and kept Katniss on her toes.

"I'm running on instinct." Katniss explained, fiercely swinging at Winter's left arm. She missed, but her momentum allowed her to pivot around again and make a stabbing motion towards her hip. "And instinct dictates I do what I can to survive."

"It's your choice to make," Winter retaliated, pivoting with surprisingly grace to avoid getting Katniss' jagged blade plunged into the soft curve of her hip. She responded with a flurry of stabs and slashes that put Katniss on the defensive, and the two began switching back and forth from offensive and defensive roles, making quite the scene in the final few minutes of the games. Neither woman seemed to harbor any actual hatred for the other; Winter made it clear that she was just doing what she had been taught to do, and Katniss had clarified that she was just fighting to survive like anyone else.

Eventually, however, Katniss stumbled—or made it look like she did. Seeing what looked like an obvious vulnerability, Winter made the lunge.

"Has your choice been made?" She asked; not quite sounding like a taunt. Katniss skillfully pivoted around the lunge due to her planning this feint, and followed up by lunging her daggers into Winter's back, causing the larger girl to freeze.

"Good… choice…" she gasped, as her grip on her own weapons loosened, and with a couple of dull thuds, they fell to the ground before Winter collapsed in a heap at Katniss' feet as a cannon fired.

 _Winter Ramirez, District 2…_

Katniss had just scored her 12th and final kill, and that meant the games were over. More than half of the 23 casualties had been by her hand, and the blood on her hands now was a glaring, literal representation of the murderer she bad become.

She sunk to her knees, not really realizing just how damaged she had been after the fight. She had lost a lot of blood, but had gone into a berserk sort of battle state that she had just shrugged it all off until now. Once she calmed down, the last thing she remembered seeing was the dim grey sky above her, showing her name and face like all of the others, but with one prominent difference.

 _Katniss Everdeen, District 12…_

 _VICTOR._


	18. Chapter 18: A Victor is Crowned

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _this may or may not have been delayed due to a newfound addiction to Fire Emblem, but at long last, here's an update to our dear friend Katniss' story. It's not exactly pretty, but there's a bit of solace in her life... eventually. She's a tough kid though. She might shed a few tears and/or be afraid of what she might have to face, but that's normal for anyone. We can't always be strong and stoic, no matter how hard we may try._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **PART III: THE SCARS**

 **CHAPTER 18: A Victor is Crowned**

Katniss woke up finding herself on some sort of operating table, with tubes attached to her arms, a bandage over her right cheek and wrapped around her right hand, and a white patch around her left eye, obscuring her vision. Gradually, she recollected what had gone down, and where she had to be right now, deducing that she was in some sort of operating room. She wondered what had happened to her eye. She realized she could see from it (albeit her vision obscured by the cloth), but it felt very tender. Out of her right eye, she noticed Haymitch, wearing something resembling an approving smirk on his face as he saw her come back around.

"Nice seeing you alive again, kid." He grunted, "although next time try not being too violent to the operators. You ended up punching two of 'em in the face, and smacking your head against a counter at least twice. They said your eye would heal just fine though."  
"That explains a bit," Katniss grunted, "where am I?"

"Capitol Operating Room, below the Tribute Tower," Haymitch explained, "Normally they take their sweet time and just fix you up on the hovercraft, but there's a storm coming they wanted to avoid or something. Of course, Effie and I are thrilled to bits that you won, so there's that for you."  
"So what happens now?" Katniss sat up, rubbing her forehead. She could have been naked as far as she cared, but she was in a white hospital gown instead.

"Crowning ceremony," Haymitch grunted, "most of your really nasty wounds are cleaned up already, but they'll primp you up one last time and it'll go from there."  
"I don't have to give a speech or anything, do I?"  
"Not till your victory tour in 6 months or so; tonight is just another interview with Caesar. Just smile and nod and you should be okay."  
"Is that what you did?" Katniss tilted her head. Haymitch frowned.

"No. What I did ended up costing me everything." He paused to take a shot from his flask, "and is one of the reasons I drink so heavily. As nice as it might be to speak out against the atrocities that we call the Hunger Games… don't. It'll only make things worse."

"Is there anyone I can trust then?"  
"Fellow victors, mostly. Maybe Effie on a good day, but even then…"

Katniss took a moment to absorb this information and for a moment sat there in silence, her heavy eyes looking right past Haymitch's left ear while his own remained locked on hers.

"I'm terrible," she sighed after several quiet minutes.

"There are no victors of the Hunger Games, Everdeen," Haymitch put a hand on Katniss' shoulder. "there are only survivors. You did what you had to do."

"I killed 12 of them."

"I think that's a record, actually. There might have been a career kid a few years ago that got 13 or 14, but I'd have to check."

"I wasn't going for a record. I was doing what I needed to survive—running essentially off instinct."

"I know. And I think I know what you're feeling right now."  
"What am I fee—" Katniss began before the door slid open and the two were interrupted by Effie. Haymitch originally growled, but Effie's choice of words had both victors changing expressions within a few seconds.

"I…" the lavender-haired woman stammered slightly, "I do hate to break up this little moment, but they're ready for you, Katniss dear." Her tone, coupled with the expression on her face showed that she was not as oblivious as Haymitch and Katniss had previously thought. It was as if she knew what had been going on and had only broken it up out of being required to do so rather than trying to kill a mood. Katniss sighed and stood up, following Effie, who led her back into a studio. Inside was the one person that Katniss wouldn't mind seeing, much to her relief—Cinna.

His expression did not change at first, but the corners of his gold-colored lips twisted downward at a slight angle as he looked Katniss over. His eyes rested on her face, seeing the exhaustion in her grey eyes. In front of him was a girl who had been fundamentally transformed at a core level after being put through two weeks of hell.

"Let me know if you need anything," he offered gently, although was already getting to work on prepping Katniss for the evening. The weary victor nodded but said nothing for the moment. She paid little attention to what Cinna was doing to her and more on the man himself. His calm demeanour hurt to see, almost as if he didn't understand her pain—and yet, he still seemed aware of what was plaguing her mind.

"I do not fully understand the scope of what you are suffering myself," he admitted as he outfitted Katniss in a dark red and black dress, "but I will do whatever I can. I'm still rooting for you, Girl on Fire."

Katniss' dress and shoes were much more subdues for her victor's interview than they were for her pre-games interview. She knew that Cinna always had some form of symbolism in his outfits and she knew what it was this time. She suddenly had a shrewd idea of what Haymitch had been about to tell her. She knew that she intended to find out as soon as she could.

In the meantime, she was escorted backstage as Caesar built fanfare before bringing her in. She could hear the excited crowds, and scowled in disgust knowing that they were celebrating what had been easily 14 of the worst 16 days of Katniss' life. The two others that had not fit the bill had been year ago when Katniss' father had died, and the other was much more recent, after her sister Prim was killed by Cato in the 74th Hunger Games. However, before she could introspect much more, she heard her cue.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen," Caesar Flickerman announced in his usual upbeat tone, "let's all give a round of applause to the victor of the 75th Annual Hunger Games—Katniss Everdeen!"

Unlike Clove from last year, who was savvy enough to know what the audiences wanted, Katniss was among the worst liars Panem had to offer. As such, her attitude was staunch and stoic, a grimace controlling the face she presented to the crowds as she sat down. She knew that not voicing her beef with the Capitol was going to be a trying task. For one, District 12 was a dangerous district full of rebels and treasonous ideas that could launch Panem into a civil war—but those were some of the last things that she ever wanted to speak about.

The first thing that happened was a highlight reel of the games, which focused mostly on Katniss' kills and the perspective of the careers. There was apparently a term floating around that Katniss had not really caught onto until seeing it recapped on the screen: people, both tributes and Capitolites alike, had come to nicknaming her "Black Death" because of the black arena uniform she wore and because of her staggeringly high kill count.

And yet, watching herself on screen attack and murder a dozen other people did not give Katniss any sense of satisfaction at all. Instead it cut her to the very core as she came to the realization that nothing she had done was going to change anything. No matter how many people she killed, it was not going to bring Primrose back. No matter how many people she killed, she would never get to know how much she and Prim had meant to Peeta Mellark, who had sacrificed everything to try and save Prim. By contrast, Katniss felt like her goal of survival was incredibly selfish.

Unlike Clove the previous year, Katniss struggled through her interview and it showed on her face. Haymitch frowned as he and Effie watched Katniss stammer for words, her expression visibly pleading for help that would not come. Fortunately for her, Caesar managed to keep the show somewhat interesting, and finally wound down with one last question.

"So now that the games are behind you, how do you feel about it all?"  
"Exhausted," Katniss sighed, "I want nothing more than to curl up in my bed…" she trailed off.

"…and cry." She was already struggling to keep a straight face, and several of the other victors, even those from other districts, were watching her intently to see if she would crack.

As if it couldn't get any worse, Caesar made the traditional announcement as well, and ushered in President Coriolanus Snow himself. As always, he bore the Victors' Crown, and came up to Katniss, looking her squarely in the eyes as he placed it gently upon her head.

"Congratulations, Ms. Everdeen," he gave a slight smile, "you fought ferociously and cleverly to make it this far. You have certainly earned your victory."

"And so ends another fine Quarter Quell!" Snow gave his parting words as the audiences began chanting Katniss' name. She was on the verge of trembling, all but shutting out Caesar again.

"This moment here…" Caesar turned to the audience. "This is a moment you never forget. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the moment where a tribute becomes a victor!"


	19. Chapter 19: A Victor's Misery

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _At long last I update this story. It's not dead by any means; just that other things got in my way. Whatever the case, we're still definitely going to see how Katniss' victory tour goes. In the meantime, we'll be seeing our favorite knife-throwing girl from the 74th Hunger Games showing her face, as well as a few other notable past victors. This story is still almost done, but with certain distractions out of the way, it'll be even closer to finishing now._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 19: A Victor's Misery**

Katniss ate with a level of savagery that could rival that of the District 12 locals, many of whom were a fairly wild bunch anyways. Mining was not for everyone after all, and so a lot of them took to hunting and foraging. The fence might have kept them confined to their district, but the small size of the cities and population meant that even then there was plenty of wilderness to look through. Katniss mused about this a while, although she and a few others agreed that the best stuff was on the other side of the fence. She liked District 12, even for the broken fence and the power outages that it suffered from. It meant that eyes weren't on them, and while for some that meant it was easier to sow seeds of rebellion, for Katniss this just meant that there was less attention paid to them, and as such, to her. She had not wanted any of this, and was simply going to put up with it grumpily until she could lock herself in her new victor's mansion and never show her face to anyone again.

Effie seemed too appalled to want to converse with the new victor, and Haymitch, despite being drunk as usual, appeared acutely aware of her problem and thus abstained from speaking to her on principle. There were some injuries that she had to overcome on her own. He would talk about it privately with her, rather than in front of Effie or any of the Avoxes.

As such, the dinner was quiet apart from the heavy storm that was blaring all around them. It was almost relaxing to Katniss, who felt oddly safe and yet oddly vulnerable here in this building as the ruthless winds and rains beat down upon it. She was frankly very ready to go home, although wondered if the trains or hovercrafts would even operate in this kind of storm. She didn't imagine that the Capitol was about to take her prisoner or anything, but apparently once someone became a victor their life suddenly became important to the Capitol and their safety became one of the Capitol's highest concerns. Katniss was seethingly aware of this irony.

Aware or not, however, Katniss was powerless to stop it, and was so broken at this point that she didn't even think she could have changed the situation even if the opportunity had arisen. She finished her meal and headed straight for her bedroom, already beginning to undo her dress before she even crossed the threshold into her room. Haymitch took this as his cue, and gave Katniss a few solid minutes on her own to change her clothes and clean off the makeup from her face.

His timing was still a bit early, however, for when he walked in, he was greeted with the sight of Katniss' slender frame clad in little more than her smallclothes.

"Ever heard of knocking?" she grunted, although maybe thanks to the Capitol or maybe because she had at least some level of trust for Haymitch, Katniss did not react to him seeing her undressed.

"I didn't think you were one to nearly fold up your dress like that." Haymitch cocked his head towards the dresser, where the black and red dress was surprisingly neatly folded atop it.

"Cinna made it," Katniss grunted, pulling out sweatpants and a T-shirt that were strikingly similar to the outfits the tributes wore during training. Hers even had a number 12 on each of the shoulders and both of her hips. "If it was anyone else," she pulled her shirt on, "I'd have tossed it."  
"I can't argue that one," Haymitch conceded, "Cinna's a good guy."

"So didja need something? I don't mean to be rude, but…"

"As a matter of fact I did," Haymitch's face straightened, and Katniss' did the same as the former seated himself in one of the chairs. Katniss plopped down on the bed, her gaze fixated slightly to Haymitch's right. Eye contact was not one of Katniss' strong points.

"Shoot," Katniss shrugged.

"I'm curious about something."  
"Like I said—I'm listening."

"There was something different about your killing streak that I saw on screen. Something's going through your mind that you're not telling anyone."  
"And there's a reason for that."

"Katniss… do you really think you can just bottle this up and not share it with anyone? Have you never vented in your life?" Haymitch was admittedly also struggling in this regard because for one thing, he was not used to or expecting to bring home a victor after 24 years of watching his tributes die, and on secondly he was not exactly good at expressing empathy. On the other hand, he noticed painfully obvious signs of repressed feelings and emotions behind the face of this tired young woman. Maybe it was just the decent human being in him, or maybe it was a bond from victor to victor, but even Haymitch Abernathy found himself trying to help her.

"I'm sure you've got your own problems you need to deal with," Katniss asserted. Haymitch was taken aback by this enough that he simply frowned and stood up.

"You know what?" he grunted, biting the lid of his flask to open it and take a shot, "fine. If you want to wallow in your misery alone, go for it."  
Haymitch honestly expected her to crack before the evening was over, but in the meantime he was going to roam the tribute tower to find some of his old victor acquaintances. Varric from District 11 was definitely still here, although other victors often came or were invited to the Capitol. As such, he was not too surprised to see Varric's mother Sagittaria and her mentor Seeder, as well as Haymitch's old drinking buddy Chaff.

"Abernathy," Chaff raised his one good arm, for his other had been lost in the games and he had refused to let the Capitol replace it, "we need a fourth for Red Maiden; you in?"

"Didn't you get the new girl to join you?" Haymitch raised his eyebrow.

"We did, but Odair dropped out. That just leaves you, me, Blight, and Kazera."

Haymitch was drawn to the allure of the game, especially after Chaff pointed out that there were drinks for both the winners and losers. On the other hand, he did want to get back to Katniss and see how she was doing, but if she was going to be a stubborn mule he would wait until she softened up a bit more.

When he arrived with Chaff to the card table, Blight and Clove were already there waiting for them.

"Take the fewest points in a round," she began as she was shuffling a deck of cards, "and you get a shot of the good stuff. Take the Red Maiden without shooting the moon and you have to take a shot of the nasty shit."  
"Who put her in charge?" Haymitch glared at Chaff. "Don't tell me you gave it to her because she's from District 2…"

"She shuffles cards better than any of us," Blight quipped, "she fits right in; don't worry."  
"And indeed Clove did. None of the men had any problems with their new comrade—this 16-year-old woman had gone through the same kind of hell that all three of them had, and so she was familiar with the kind of trauma that most of them suffered from.

As the game continued and many a shot (good and awful) were taken as the other victors roamed the tribute tower. The storm actually knocked the power out, the Capitol had backup generators for this very reason. As long as the connection to District 5 remained, the Capitol would still be lit up. It was dimmer than before, but none of the building's occupants had any trouble. It did mean that they were stuck here for another day or so unless the storm subsided by morning.

Katniss had remained in her room most of the time where true to Haymitch's theory, she had cracked and started crying it out. She was far too proud and stubborn to show anyone, but as much as she just wanted to stay in her room all night, she needed a bit of air. Leaving the apartment, she roamed the unrestricted areas of the tribute tower, her tan-skinned face still a bit pink from her earlier tears that she wanted no one to notice.

Unfortunately for her, someone did notice, and it was the first other victor she ran into, no less.

"Normally I'd ask why such a pretty face was so red," he began, "but I think I know the answer."  
"What do you want?" Katniss grunted. "Do I know you?"  
"Finnick Odair, 65th Hunger Games," the bronze-haired man explained, "maybe I'm just nosey, but you look like you're still ready to kill someone."  
This actually caught Katniss off guard enough that she paused. Killing anyone else that wasn't from the Capitol was the last thing on her mind. The 12 men and women she had slain in the arena had just been victims of the games just as she was. She had come to various conclusions while she was in her room, and realized that maybe Haymitch was right.

"Let's get out of this hall and find a place to talk, Odair." Katniss mumbled, "…Haymitch was right. I really need to get this shit off my chest…"


	20. Chapter 20: A Life of Regret

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _for some reason this has been a difficult story to write, and I didn't want to force it. I was dealing with a writer's block that took me a while to get over, and in the meantime I had decided to focus on my original novel and "The Victors' Chronicles". However, unlike 'Smash City', this one is not about to get cancelled, especially since I'm on the final stretch. All that remains is Katniss' victory tour and a short epilogue and then it'll be done. Thanks for being patient with me._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 20: A Life of Regret  
**

Finnick and Katniss found an empty room away from the noise and openness of the central forum, the former sighing as she sat down at a small table in front of her. Finnick sat across from her watching the smaller, dark-skinned girl clutch her hair as if about to rip it out.

"A part of me really does want to kill someone," she sighed a moment later, slamming her forehead against the table and burying her face in her arms, "whoever came up with these sadistic games."  
"Well," Finnick couldn't help but let slip a dark chuckle, "you're certainly not alone in that regard. If you want to let it out though, I'll listen."

As nonchalant and indifferent as he might have come off as being, Finnick knew what it was like, and had been a victim of Capitol horrors the same way more other victors had been. He didn't feel like bringing any of that up just now because it was not relevant to the current conversation, nor would telling Katniss about her troubles make the distraught introvert open up any more.

"I always thought that winning these games would get my mind off of what I've lost." Katniss mumbled. "that it would make the rest of my problems go away…"

"And you've now realized that it hardly does that; and that the opposite is more likely true?"  
"Basically," Katniss gave a heavy sigh. "The games last year took away the last of what I had—and didn't even realize I had had. This year they stripped me of any innocence I might have at least pretended I had. All I wanted was for it to end…"  
"The Capitol knows that, and so they deliberately pitted you against the wrong people."

"That's the part that hurts. I killed a dozen of them on my own. People say it's some kind of record, but even if it is I don't really care. I didn't win anything."  
"No victor does," Finnick warned, "most lose far more than their innocence in the arena. One wrong move against the Capitol and they'll take everything you cherish."  
"I don't have anything left for them to take." Katniss mumbled. Sure she still had her mother, but that woman's depression and distancing had only grown exponentially since Prim's death. Nowadays she and Katniss hardly even acknowledged each other's existence. Katniss was not going to be making a triumphant return to District 12 by any means.

"join the club." Finnick nodded, "see, even your man Haymitch knows what that's like. We've all been there; we've all done that. You want to vent, we'll listen—or most of us will. There are a few crazies that can't get the voices out of their heads yet, but you'll recognize them when you see 'em."

Katniss glanced up at Finnick, who put his fingers under the young victor's chin to look her in the eye. Katniss's grey eyes darted away, not really feeling comfortable with making eye contact, but she listened to Finnick's words either way.

"Maybe have a word with Haymitch after this." He suggested, "I don't think he'll be as standoffish as he usually is."

"I… I guess I'm just having trouble trying to cope with all this." Katniss admitted, "I volunteered thinking I'd be at peace either as a victor or in the grave. I… thanks for listening, Finnick." She rose to her feet, prompting the young man to do the same. To his slight surprise, Katniss put her arms around him, sighing again.

"not saying you suddenly have to get all friendly with everyone," Finnick pointed out, "but there are plenty of people here that have your back."

"there were people like that in the arena. Vex should have won those games."

"We've all got friends and enemies in the games," Finnick frowned, "and the games are what keep us so divided. Only the victors really understand how alike most of the districts are—even District 1 and District 2. "Drop Haymitch a line when you go back. I think it'd be good for you."

"Alright then," Katniss nodded. "Thanks again, by the way."  
"Any time," Finnick shrugged, "or at least, any time we cross paths."

These were the words which Katniss and Finnick parted on for the evening, as Katniss returned to her apartment on the top floor. Before she could retreat to her room, she found herself face to face with Haymitch Abernathy.

"Have a nice talk?" he asked, for he knew where she had gone and why.

"Nice isn't the word I'd use… but it helped, a little. It cleared my head, even if I still feel miserable."

"That's normal, as much as I hate to admit it. Look, I might come off as an indifferent old drunk, because most of the time, I *am* an indifferent old drunk. It's been 25 years since my games, and I got so used to watching my tributes die that I'm kinda not even sure what to do at this point. The mantle of mentors' gonna get passed to you, and it's an ugly road."

"My life has been nothing but one ugly road since Prim died. I don't imagine it can get much worse unless you decide to hoard all the drinks in District 12."

"I can make room for a drinking buddy." Haymitch chuckled darkly, "you'll get to join me in the victor village, y'know. It's been rather quiet since Laurel disappeared."

"You knew her best," Katniss suddenly paused, "what happened to her?"  
"She jumped the fence and never came back." Haymitch shrugged, "we locals just thought she was going for another hunt, but either she died out there or maybe the Capitol got her. Still… I haven't seen any Avoxes looking like her, so that seems less likely."  
"I'll keep my eye out for any remains," Katniss quipped dryly. "or maybe one day I'll do the same thing."  
"Whatever you do, just don't get caught. Death is unbecoming of you, Everdeen."

"I can't just let Vex's death be in vain," Katniss mumbled, "doesn't mean I'm necessarily gonna be happy about my life, old or new though."  
"No one's asking that much; just follow my old advice, kid—stay alive."

"That much I can do—or try to, anyways. Thanks, Abernathy."

"Now you're catching on," Haymitch smirked, "smart lass."

The remainder of the evening flew by with little event, and while the majority of the storm raged on in the evening, the trains home were only delayed a couple hours before it was ready to take the victors and mentors back to their respective districts. Katniss dragged herself out of bed, remembering how much she disliked mornings, glancing at herself in the mirror one last time before getting dressed. Her signature braid was gone, her dark, wavy hair cascading down her back. She looked much older, as if she had aged 7 years in the 7 or so days the games had gone on. It was a very dangerous, fast-paced piece of action that had left a dozen men and women dead by Katniss' hand. Killing for her was not the hard part, but rather, the realization that no amount of killing would bring back those she lost, and that for all intents and purposes, she was alone at this point.

The train ride home was long and quiet, with Haymitch drinking, and Katniss joining him for a while. The liquid burned, and Haymitch laughed at Katniss' near-gagging.

"have another," he offered her the flask.

"I'll pass, thanks." Katniss grumbled, drinking half a pitcher of water over the next couple minutes.

"the second one isn't so bad," he explained, "by that time, all the nerves in your throat are dead from the wake of the first bottle."

"I'm not sure if you're serious or bluffing…" Katniss mumbled, "but fine, I'll take you up on that."  
she stopped after the 2nd bottle, only a bit tipsy unlike Haymitch who full-on inebriated himself (and had passed out in a deep, almost dizzying slumber). She gazed out the window in contemplation. Would her new life be very different? She couldn't protect those that she loved—or even those that she hadn't even realized loved her.

" _Peeta… would things have even been different if I had gotten to know you?"_ she lay on her bed ruminating about the events of the previous year; _If I had had feelings for you the same way you did for me, rather than remain as oblivious as I did. if I had actually been able to volunteer for Prim instead of losing my cool and getting restrained… would things have been different? That could have saved Prim… could I have found a way to have saved you had I been there?"_

She shrugged and closed her eyes. Perhaps it didn't matter anymore. Prim was gone, Peeta was gone, and Vex was gone. The 74th and 75th Hunger Games were both gone and in the past, and nothing Katniss could do now could ever undo that. Her next steps were coping and acceptance, and then she would have to move on. She closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep as the train took her home—and that was where that process would begin…


	21. Chapter 21: A Glimpse of the Future

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _I mentioned early in this story that there was a reference to one of my other fanfics, and there was. This chapter really brings it home, and so anyone who has read "The 91st Annual Hunger Games" will see some serious references and foreshadowings of that story here, and it was even referenced in the fic in question. Those who enjoyed this fanfic and its prequel might enjoy the trilogy that is the 91st, 92nd, and 93rd Annual Hunger Games, but in the meantime, thanks for sticking with me as I work on wrapping up Katniss' story once and for all._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 21: A Glimpse of the Future**

The train arrived back in District 12 with little real fanfare. The victory tour that would flaunt Katniss' triumphs across Panem wouldn't take place for another 6 months or so—conveniently placed as far away from the games as possible so that there'd only be 6 months of something unrelated to the Hunger Games.

Katniss' introversion was not why she feared this tour, but rather, her own reclusiveness and fear of public speaking brought out the fear in her. Some victors made it look so easy. Clove Kazera from last year had been one of these people. Katniss figured it'd be in her best interests to get all warm and cozy with Effie next time they say each other, in the hopes that the woman could help her write at least somewhat passable speeches for each of the districts.

The ones on her mind the most were District 1, District 2, and District 11. She had not really felt one way or the other about her partner Levi, but she had had feelings for Vex as one of her closest friends of all time. The only other person besides her sister that she could really say that about was Gale Hawthorne, but he didn't cross her mind this soon.

District 1 and District 2 were interesting, because on one hand, they had been her greatest enemies in the arena, but on the other hand, to Katniss it had not been personal until after they had killed Vex. Even then, that wasn't exactly over Vex either. Katniss was mostly just upset that she had lived while Vex had died. How many others would suffer that fate?

Life in the victor village was quiet, and Katniss' stipend was more than enough to suit her needs. She still hopped the fence from time to time to help herself get away from it all, but for the most part, she remained alone and content in her mansion, unless Haymitch was inviting her over for cards and a drink.

Still, in contrast to Katniss' mansion, Haymitch's was a mess, and Katniss had not sunk deep enough into depressive stupors to neglect her own place.

"I'm not gonna beg, but you really need to clean this shithole up, Abernathy." Katniss scoffed.

"Maybe if you invited me over to your house more often you wouldn't have to see it?"  
"I don't want your piss-breath on my carpets."  
"Well, if you're not gonna make a mess someone's gotta fill in for you."

"suck it up, Abernathy. I even brought the cards this time."  
"I take it you expected me to supply the drinks?"

"I always assumed you had at least one use, you know."

"you're a slavedriver, Everdeen," Haymitch grunted, getting to his feet. "Give me a moment."  
There was an old saying that more or less summarized the relationship between Katniss and Haymitch. Originally brought up by a District 2 woman named Leto Irizari from about 4 decades ago, she had said: _"Friendship is determined by how much you can insult someone without them being offended."_ Such was the nature of the relationship between these two victors. Haymitch was one of the few people that Katniss interacted with, and similarly, Katniss was the only person that Haymitch really bothered interacting with. Neither one really had need to see anyone else, although Katniss did keep in touch with Gale a bit. He was sort of her connection to the rest of the district, since she mostly stayed rather closed off. As such, it was somewhat surprising when she found Gale at her door one afternoon.

"Gale? How did you get in here?"  
"I knocked. There's someone that wanted to see you in person down in the district."  
"Is it someone 'important'?" The last thing Katniss wanted was an encounter with some Capitol official or something.

"It's just one of the women from the district. You might recognize her once you see her."

Katniss got more properly dressed and followed Gale through the old district village that she used to actively be part of. Nowadays if she wasn't drinking with Haymitch or hunting across the fence, she was usually just making a beeline for the Hob to sell her goods—not because she needed the money, but more to at least try to help others have a little sustenance.

She soon found herself entering a nondescript house, where she found a dark-skinned woman with a bundle in her arms, and a little toddler boy at her side.

"Katniss…" the woman whispered, and Katniss' eyes widened.

"Naisha Togisala…" Katniss exclaimed, remembering the name from the Reaping a few months ago when it had been called for the Quell. She was no longer pregnant, and the bundle in her arms was a little baby girl.

"I heard and saw what happened in the Games, Katniss." She sighed, "and while I know it probably does not mean much… thank you. You saved my family and you saved my life. Wesley, Aveline, and I are forever in your debt."

"thanks for the gratitude, I guess…" Katniss shrugged, "that… well actually that's rather reassuring. For all the people I couldn't save… at least I could save one…"

She paused, glancing at the tiny baby in Naisha's arms.

"So… Aveline, huh?"  
"Aye," Naisha nodded, sighing. "I just wish her father could have been here to see her."  
"I know what it's like losing a father," Katniss frowned, "I'd almost say it'd be better to not remember him than to be old enough to remember that horrible day he died. Sorry if that's not helping."  
"I understand," Naisha indicated, cradling the infant close to her chest, "I just wanted to make sure you knew how grateful I was for your sacrifice. Aveline wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, and I probably wouldn't either."

"I'm not proud of what I did in the arena," Katniss shook her head, "but I'm glad I was able to help you at least. For all the other people I've failed in my life, it's good to know at least one person's life improved because of me."

"Aveline will know of your accomplishments when she is older," Naisha promised, "perhaps you can be her inspiration… maybe she'll stake out on her own and do great things… maybe that's just a mother's naïve optimism. Still… thank you for dropping by, Katniss Everdeen."

A nod of understanding was what Katniss, Gale, and Naisha all parted terms with. Katniss headed outside the district, hopping the fence to get lost in the wilderness and in her own thoughts. She contemplated her new life—how well she had been getting along comparatively speaking. The nightmares she had were frequent, but a few nights with Haymitch had gotten her to accept that they were fairly normal, even if that didn't exactly help her sleep well at night.

She thought back to Finnick; a nice young man—a surprise from a career district, but it seemed that the enmity held between richer or stronger districts like 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 was something that dissipated after the games. Victors were victors, be they from the rich throngs of District 1 or the poorest slums of District 12. She hoped to meet Finnick again when she stopped in District 4, although also wanted to talk to Clove in District 2. She wondered what it was like; Clove Kazera was the last living individual who had seen her sister Prim, as well as her partner Peeta. What did she know, and what could she share? Those were questions Katniss sought answers to. They were not the only people on her mind though.

" _Vex…"_ she mused, _"would things have been different if you were back in the District 11 Victor Village and I was dead underground in the corner of the district where they keep memorials for fallen tributes? Would anyone know my name, or is yours too doomed to be forgotten by a Capitol who cares nothing for you or your accomplishments? I wish I could have known you longer—and I wish I could have saved you. You deserved to win far more than I did…"_

But as Katniss said this, she thought of little Aveline. What would have happened then, if Katniss had not volunteered? She did not think that many tributes would have mercy on her simply for being pregnant, and that child would not cease to exist. But what if Naisha was right? What if Aveline did grow up and do great things? Katniss thought about it briefly, but then was hit with a heavy reminder that in 12 years the youngster's name would be in the Reaping. 15 years or so down the road, and little Aveline Togisala could very well be representing District 12 in the 91st Annual Hunger Games or something. That was not a thought that Katniss liked considering. No one should have to do what she did; no one should be forced into those brutal and sadistic games. And yet, despite all of that, Katniss knew that she was powerless to stop it. Katniss knew if there was a revolt against the Capitol, that it wouldn't start with her. Maybe Aveline could take up that mantle. Maybe it would be someone else: someone charismatic enough to become a leader and unite people regardless of district. Maybe that hero would come someday—but until they did, all Katniss could do was wait.


	22. Chapter 22: Rebels of the Past

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _this is admittedly kind of a "filler chapter" so to speak, but it's also important to get Katniss out of that little funk she's been in. Obviously it's not just a magical cure for PTSD or anything by any means, but Katniss has impacted Haymitch in a way that made him want to return the favor. This is an account of what he decides to do in return. Moreover, we get some fancy references to some of the District 12 tributes in recent chapters of "The Victors' Chronicles"._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 22: Rebels of the Past**

Katniss did not keep in contact with very many people apart from Haymitch, and even Gale's visits were less and less frequent. She'd wake up in a cold sweat half the time, and there was no one to really comfort her in those situations. As such, she'd either suffer a sleepless night, or go wandering into the woods. The evening didn't faze her any more than the morning did, but she occasionally saw tributes like Winter, Wallace, Surge, Vex, or even Levi a few times. Naturally, this had an astoundingly negative impact on her mental health and well-being. Lacking a way to cope with it, Katniss simple did what she could, even if she started to lose interest in most of her daily activities. Haymitch didn't notice much of a difference, but only because most of their also fairly scarce interactions had not been altered much by Katniss' change in mental health.

One night it was particularly bad, and despite heading to bed early, Katniss could not get the scene out of her head where she and Vex had had the final confrontation with the careers that had left Vex dead and Katniss alive.

"I don't care that I won," she sighed, "I am honestly more surprised that it didn't happen sooner."

"You did kind of pull District 12 out of a rut," Haymitch pointed out, "first Laurel, then me, and now you. You're a role model to the people of the district, despite everything."  
"And why's that?" Katniss tilted her head.

"Because I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the people of this district aren't exactly obedient, nor are they necessarily weak."

"Levi died in the bloodbath."  
"District 5 kids have died in the bloodbath, and they have more victors than anyone short of the career tributes. There are good years and bad years."  
"We have good years every 25 years at least, it seems."

"Just because a tribute isn't a winner doesn't mean that they were weak. Sometimes shit happens. You weren't born yet, but there are some Hunger Games reruns I want to show you."  
"Why the hell do you watch Hunger Games reruns, Haymitch."  
"Because it can tell you a lot about people from our district and from other districts as well. I want to focus on a certain few tributes, particularly from the decade before my own games."  
"Do I have a choice?" Katniss frowned.

"Well you know where the door is, sweetheart," Haymitch took a shot of beer, "but if you're sticking around, get comfortable, and tell me if you notice a pattern here."  
Katniss sat and watched the screen as Haymitch explained what he was showing.

"Aralynn Tabris, age 16; 40th Hunger Games; sabotaged supplies and killed tributes using smoke and flash grenades. She took 5th place when all was said and done."

Katniss was observant enough to catch details of the girl: she was dark, and bore a number 12 on her shoulders. She had an idea what Haymitch was planning on showing her, but she'd stay quiet until he was finished. She wanted to see what else District 12 had produced leading up to Haymitch's victory. The next scene showed a girl hiding in a foggy room of a tower.

"Ariana Fox, age 14; 41st Hunger Games;" Haymitch explained, "managed to control some Capitol mutts and use illusion and subterfuge to throw off her enemies. She took 4th place that year."

"Iris Coaler, age 15; 42nd Hunger Games;" Haymitch smirked as the scene changed to a rocky valley where a small girl wielding a sling was joined with the boy that Katniss recognized as the victor Niles Lincoln from District 2. "hid and found herself a vantage point, and literally killed tributes by throwing rocks at them from ambushes. She took 2nd in her games after outlasting the last couple of careers."

He smiled at noticing Katniss' slight sense of awe as he flipped to the next scene: a forest.

"Sophie Howe, age 17; 43rd Hunger Games; small and swift, she formed an alliance that actually seized the cornucopia from the careers. Her alliance got fried, but she used wire to rig up the trees into natural lightning rods. She jumped right into the career pack with a pair of grenades, and lost her life after taking two of them with her and injuring the third. She took 3rd place that year."

Katniss remained stoic as the forest became a jungle.

"Kyla Togisala, age 15; 44th Hunger Games;" Haymitch smirked, "you might remember hearing of her. She was much more confrontational, and killed 6 tributes on her own—more than Sagittaria the victor did, even. When District 2's Alexis Alewine impaled her and lifted her from the ground, she swung one last time and beheaded the girl before finally dying. She took 3rd as well."

"I think you've made your point now," Katniss noted, "but if you've got more to show me, please do."

"Hazel Prezelin, age 13; 45th Hunger Games;" Haymitch delivered without hesitation, "didn't actually kill anyone, but utilized most of the metal shards around the arena to sabotage the careers' weapons. She died of mental trauma, but not before disarming the entire career pack one way or another. She was 7th, which for a 13-year-old who didn't kill anyone, is pretty impressive."

Another heavily forested scene appeared next, replacing the ugly nighttime derelict city that had been the 45th arena.

"There's leadership among District 12 men and women," Haymitch pointed out, "Isikiro Kwan, age 18; 46th Hunger Games; recruited Lyndis and "Smash", two of the strongest non-career tributes from that year, and the three of them built an enormous fortress together. Their plans of sabotage didn't come to fruition only because the Gamemakers intervened before they could. She took 8th overall."

"Are there any boys from that era that had the subversive skillsets that the girls seemed to have?" Katniss asked, "I mean, you won, but are there others?"  
"Isi's partner Joss Colton was much more of an actual saboteur." Haymitch nodded, "he spent most of the time building traps and catching tributes off guard before they finally got him. I forgot what place he took, but he definitely left his mark on the arena."

The forest scene transitioned into sandy beaches and islands next.

"Lynx Chantrea; age 12; 47th Hunger Games," an innocent looking child appeared on-screen, "could do almost anything with enough rope, and with it, she not only rigged up the arena Joss Colton style, but she built this."

She and two boys, one from '8 and the other from '3, had constructed a small ship complete with working cannons, which used re-armed landmines from the cornucopia.

"District 2's Alana Drogo gave her the most humane kind of death the Hunger Games offered," Haymitch sighed, "and overall, she took 5th in her games."

Katniss gave Haymitch a skeptical look  
"The two kids from the 49th games were okay;" he digressed, "the boy took 10th and the girl took 6th, but the ones I really want to show you were the year before that—two years before me."

Haymitch flipped on the TV again, revealing a swampy arena, and two savage, barefooted tributes marked with paint and tattoos.

"Fenris Murdock, age 18; a conniving killer and scare-artist; his wild antics were part of my inspiration to try and use the careers' tricks against them. It worked pretty well, all things considering—the kid took 7th, only behind a couple of careers and the rest of his alliance."  
"What about that girl?" Katniss was fixated on the small black-skinned girl that looked like she was constructing small bombs or projectiles.

"Zefira Saratoga, age 16; 48th Hunger Games; symbol of fear, some called her. She is a symbolic character that the rebels of District 12 still look to today. If a small, mute girl could terrify even the most loyal career tributes and take full control of the arena the way she did, it wouldn't even matter. Zefira took 2nd place in her games, and had she won, she might have spurred a revolution then and there. In hindsight… maybe not the best of ideas…"  
"Why not?" Katniss took a drink of her own, giving Haymitch a skeptical expression, "why wouldn't we want to throw ourselves off of Capitol rule?"

"because back then our population was only slightly more than half of what it is now… we'd get annihilated." Haymitch swiped Katniss' bottle, taking a swig of beer himself, "but anyways, the point of this whole lengthy demonstration was to show you one thing, and one thing only."  
"District 12 is full of rebellious sons of bitches?" Katniss quipped.

"Precisely." Haymitch approved, "and more importantly, despite the damage these games did to you, you're still strong. You don't need to be some charismatic leader of a revolution, but there's a brilliant mind in there." He teasingly rapped his knuckles against Katniss' skull, causing the younger victor to massage her head.

"More importantly—at least to me," Haymitch continued, "is you got me out of my drunken stupor. Obviously I still drink and that's not changing, but you've given me purpose again, Everdeen. And for that, I want to thank you personally."  
"Well… you're welcome then." Katniss nodded approvingly, "and thank you."

Haymitch was right. Katniss was still strong even if she wasn't the most socially adept person out there. He had helped remind her to embrace the strong part of her, and perhaps if she did that, then there was still hope for her on her victory tour after all…


	23. Chapter 23: An Amiable Departure

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _The victory tour finally kicks off for real this time! We don't get to see any of the formal stops yet, but we do get the buildup, as well as what kind of angle Cinna is taking with Katniss in terms of clothing designs. Heck, there's a scene from one of the films (I think the first one) that gave me the exact idea, but what can I say?_  
 _Either way... Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 23: An Amiable Departure**

While she did not pay very many others in the district a visit apart from Gale and Haymitch (the latter of whom didn't really count since he lived literally across the small plaza from her), Katniss did occasionally also visit Naisha and her small children Wesley and Aveline. She would usually not say much, although did occasionally leave gifts in the form of food or other useful items. Her mother was usually off somewhere back in the district, mostly in her own little world as she coped with the depression that came from losing her husband and her youngest daughter. Watching the breakdown of her surviving child had all but been the final nail in the coffin, and so the two rarely interacted due to the demons they both were trying to cope with.

A month or two rolled by from the time little Aveline was born to the moment of the year that Katniss had been dreading for over 6 months: the 75th Victory Tour, which would feature her in front of thousands of people in 12 different districts. She was glad that she didn't have to give a speech in the Capitol, but she was still rather daunted by the thought of paying that place a visit—as most people from District 12 were considering their rebellious streaks.

There was a sense of poetic irony here—the victor last year was the most afraid of District 12, while here she was terrified of District 2. It also made her think beyond Winter and Wallace… would she be able to face the girl whose partner and best friend had slain her sister? On the other hand, perhaps it was for the best that her hardest stops be out of the way first, so that the rest of the tour would not be nearly as stressful. She knew it was going to be bad though, since she was responsible for the deaths of literally more than half of the tributes this year—men and women whose only crime against Katniss was being chosen to represent their districts in the death tournament.

She had killed both tributes from District 1, District 2, and District 3, and so she was almost certain her reception there would be very poor. She had also killed one of the tributes from Districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, which really meant that only Districts 11, 12, and 4 would be places where the people there might not give her nasty looks. At the same time, perhaps she deserved this judgment. Despite being one of the most remarkable accomplishments in Hunger Games history, Katniss was by no means proud of it. She had simply done what she had to do, and still sometimes wished that Vex was alive—Katniss could have scored 12 kills and then let Vex drop the finishing strike on her. "Black Death"—the killer of a dozen tributes, would be dead, and Panem would still have a good woman in her place.

Katniss' introspection was cut short by a knock at her door. She would have normally been halfway to the woods by now but this was a date that Effie and Haymitch had both reminded and warned her about, and there would be no excuse for being absent or late. Not wanting to get caught jumping the fence, Katniss had spent most of the morning simply pacing. When the door knocked, she was relieved to see that it was Haymitch, rather than Effie, Cinna, and the Capitol camera crews. It wasn't that she didn't like Effie (and she actually really liked Cinna), but more that she loathed attention and cherished peace. District 12 was a culture that valued introversion, being governed by an entity that encouraged extraversion by contrast.

"Ready for today?" Haymitch didn't wait for Katniss to invite him in; once she had opened the door, he stepped inside. Normally Katniss would have taken a step or two back to avoid getting a face full of an alcoholic stench, but today, Haymitch's normal odor was gone, replaced by a fairly decent aroma and a nicer set of clothes.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Katniss shrugged, the dismal expression on her face betraying her concern. "What's the tour entail?"  
"First they're gonna doll you up for the cameras, so you're in for a makeover." Haymitch explained, "Otherwise, today it's basically just seeing you off, and so I've got cards and drinks for the train ride to District 1—and after that it's an all-expenses paid trip across Panem as you get to see the families of all the tributes you killed."  
"If you're trying to make me feel better about it, it's not working," Katniss groaned, "but I take it that's not what you were trying to do."  
"I'd rather you know the harsh truth than a deceptive fantasy," Haymitch asserted, "just stay calm though. I'll make sure that you get through this, and I'm sure Effie will help too."

It was about another half hour or so (or maybe more; maybe less—Katniss was fidgety and unsure how much time had passed) before there was another knock at the door. Similar to Haymitch, albeit for different reasons, the ones at the door did not wait for Katniss' invitation, and were more just alerting her of their arrival. Soon Effie, Cinna, and a few unfamiliar faces appeared in the front hall of Katniss' home. She assumed the new faces were camera crews and such, and thus did not question it.

Effie was beside herself with excitement to see Katniss again. While emotionally she was probably about the same or maybe a bit worse off compared to their last meeting, her physical form looked much better. She had put on a bit more weight, to compensate for what she had lost in the arena. Her form had sort of filled out, giving her body a few extra curves she had not had before the games, but that was more just from her being able to eat proper meals every day rather than her binging or overindulging. Her physique was still lithe and slender all things considering.

Katniss dealt with a hug from Effie and the old prep team, and thankfully Cinna did nothing so dramatic. Katniss didn't really need to be cleaned up, since her body hair hadn't ever really grown back (to Katniss' slight dismay; she didn't really ever have a need to speak of it, but she had kind of missed her fuzzy legs from before the 'games) and there weren't any other scars or blemishes that really needed cleaned up.

Katniss was relieved when Cinna took her into an unused room that would briefly and temporarily become his studio for the moment. Not even being instructed to strip down fazed her. Cinna had a very relaxing presence for Katniss, and was one of the few people she felt comfortable chatting and conversing with freely.

Cinna noticed Katniss' expressions as he worked on styling her. The shoes (a pair of black flats) were the easiest part for him to figure out, but he also had a feeling that Katniss' discomfort was not coming from the fact that she was standing there in nothing but said shoes.

"I take it you're worried about the tour," Cinna glanced Katniss over again as he began to dress her a few moments later.

"I killed half the people I'm supposed to give speeches for," Katniss indicated, now wearing underwear and a snug long-sleeved top, "I don't imagine that's going to lend me much positive reception."  
"That's a predicament," Cinna mused, finishing Katniss' outfit with an olive-colored knee-length skirt that gave the young victor a minimalistic but effective appearance. He left her hair down, although brushed a few tangles out of it, and otherwise let her natural beauty shine through instead. "I think your mentor Haymitch could offer better advice than me, but I would suggest to simply go through the motions. Divert your focus from the families and even from the audience if you can, when you speak. Otherwise, just remember… I'm rooting for you, Girl on Fire."  
Katniss couldn't help but smile at how cute she thought she looked in this simple outfit. She had expected something extravagant, but was content when she realized that this getup was more what she would wear between stops. Haymitch seemed pleasantly amused when he saw Katniss emerge.

"It's fitting," he nodded approvingly, as they headed for the door, "I'll tell you more after the gauntlet."  
Before Katniss could ask what 'the gauntlet' was, she found herself exposed to dozens of crowds and cameras waiting to catch shots and videos of their champion. Naturally, she heaved an audible sigh of relief as she reached the train, finding a quiet compartment to join Haymitch in, where she seated herself on a soft, sofa-like bench, her legs to one side and her mentor across a small table from her.

"To me," he began, neither of them worrying much as the train started moving, "it looks like Cinna's trying to play you at face value here. You look almost like you normally do, except cleaner and without pants—both of which could generally qualify as improvements."  
"I should hit you for that," Katniss' lip curled upwards only slightly on the left side. "But… thanks."  
"No problem." Haymitch shrugged with a smirk, "you up for some cards to kill time?"  
"Drinks as well," Katniss concurred. The victory tour had begun—and Katniss hoped she could survive it.


	24. Chapter 24: Glamour and Luxury

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _And here's Katniss' tour. Obviously with how differently things played out in this story (and its prequel) than in the books, things are going to go very differently here. Sadly, it's not the start of a rebellion, although there's a fire in Katniss' eyes that never fully went out. She's down, but not out, and now she's got to struggle with giving her speeches alone (or with Effie's help). Hopefully for her she won't cause a scene as she traverses the districts._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 24: Glamour and Luxury  
**

Perhaps unsurprisingly, but still unsettling nonetheless, Katniss had a vivid flashback later that evening of the moment from the games where she had killed Surge in retaliation for the man killing Vex. It took her several minutes before she was able to mentally or emotionally recover, and it was only then that she realized that she was not fighting for her life on a cornucopia, but that she was still on a train, with the evening wilderness outside the train cars whizzing past them by the second.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes. She was grateful for the silence of the train, because glancing out into the pitch darkness reminded her too much of the 5th wedge of the arena that was cloaked in darkness. Many tributes had died there, and that had been the first time Katniss had been genuinely afraid of losing Vex. Nonetheless, she eventually got a grip on reality once again, realizing that she was tentatively safe, but that Vex was gone forever. It was not exactly a happy thought to fall back asleep on, but eventually she did exactly that.

Effie managed to be a source of reassurance for once, informing Katniss the next morning as they approached District 1 that she could help her write the speeches, and that more importantly, they did not need to be overly long. Katniss wondered what sort of drivel Effie would write for her, but in the first three districts, Katniss would need her help. All six of these career tributes had died at her hand, and so she knew that nothing she could say would quell their enmity and anger towards her, especially given her hostility as well as her nickname.

Katniss had never been fond of the color pink, but when Cinna put her in an outfit of that color, she trusted him that he knew what she was doing. District 1 was always a bit over-the-top by her standards, with their glamourous lifestyles and upbeat attitudes, but maybe that came from them being the richest and (2nd) most loyal district, with Katniss' own views slanted by coming from the poorest and most rebellious district. Whatever the case, she trusted Cinna's judgment. He could put her out there in pink polka-dot colored clothing that barely covered her essentials and she'd probably trust him. Haymitch had been right about that as well—victors cared much less about who saw them undressed.

"So what did you do to pass the time during your tour?" Katniss asked Haymitch after she was dressed and ready to go. Haymitch eyed the glitzy pink dress with a mixture of amusement and approval.

"I'd usually have a drink, or make snarky remarks with my own mentor Laurel." he quipped, "either that or another game of Wicked Grace."

"We're betting on it, right?"  
"Sweetheart, it's not Wicked Grace if there aren't any stakes."

As awkward as Katniss had originally felt in the pink dress, she was easily able to discard the notions once she got engaged in the game. A drink helped her loosen up a bit and thus remain less tense as they neared their destination, which also helped her worry less.

Soon the train pulled into a rather well-kept station, which made Katniss' heart sink. They were now in District 1. Six months ago, Katniss might have been appalled at the idea of saying something scripted by Effie, but at this point she was either demoralized or simply indifferent enough not to care.

She was nervous as she glanced over at the families of Tarin and Titania. Thankfully she did not see any small children, but was worried that she might see some of them later on. Some of the tributes were in their mid-20s—and that was plenty old enough to have a child or two if they were married. No one was spared from the Reaping that year. Anyone between the ages of 17 and 25 was eligible, and it was from this pool if citizens that the names had been drawn. Katniss was the only one under 21, barely passing the threshold, being 17 years old.

Her sympathy was slightly less for Tarin and Titania (and by extension, Winter and Wallace), considering that they had volunteered for the games, but also because they and their career alliance had killed her best friend Vex, and that was not something she could easily forgive. As much as Katniss hated to admit it, she had become close friends with the girl and was devastated at her death.

To her surprise though, she was done before she knew it, and no one jeered or shouted profanities at her or anything like she had feared. Maybe it was because of the Capitol watching from every angle (they had cameras for this event after all, considering it was televised), or maybe District 1 was just obedient enough to follow Victory Tour protocol. Whatever the case, Katniss made it through this stop without incident, although the stress in her face began to fade away at a noticeable level once her speech was completed. She was glad that the idea of a victory feast after each speech was implemented, because she frankly needed that de-stressing, and playing cards with Haymitch over a few drinks would be good for her. Haymitch did warn her that some of the old victors might gravitate towards her, but that most of them weren't hostile.

Sure enough, a pair of siblings moved her way, as well as a strikingly beautiful middle-aged woman whose luscious curls were still their original golden color. Katniss recognized the siblings as Gloss and Cashmere, a brother and sister that won back-to-back games about a decade ago. The older woman had to introduce herself.

"Aurum Zianja," she beamed, "it seems you kids from '12 have a knack for winning every time they tweak the rules. What's your secret?"  
"I wanted to survive," Katniss gave an awkward half-shrug, "I'm pretty sure Haymitch and Laurel were the same way." She had been about to add _"wouldn't you do the same?"_ to her statement, but remembered that these were all career tributes who volunteered for this. Luckily Aurum did not seem to be trying to provoke Katniss any more than Gloss or Cashmere.

"well you set a record to make people jealous," the older woman beamed, "12 kills and a training score of 12, all in 7 days? That's incredible."

"I'm not exactly proud of it." Katniss shrugged, "honestly I'm surprised that you're not angry at me for killing your tributes." Katniss didn't exactly have a filter, and social pleasantries were just not her thing.

"It's disappointing," Gloss spoke up as he helped himself to his plate of food, "but we're all volunteers around here. We win some; we lose some."  
"And you?" Katniss cocked her head towards the only other woman who had remained silent this entire time, "I mean, I can't exactly apologize, but…"  
"Meh, I've heard it all before," Cashmere shrugged, "even speeches as generic as yours. Trinket is a decent writer though. it was less boring than usual."  
"I guess you're familiar with what I had to do then," Katniss shrugged.

"More or less," Cashmere nodded, "shit happens. Maybe we'll win it next year."

"Or the year after," Gloss added, "and so on."

Katniss nodded and shrugged, and the others went on their way apart from Aurum, which watched Katniss for a little while longer before she too disappeared into the crowd. To her relief, Haymitch found her a few minutes later (she was not too hard to find in that dress; just that few people had anything to really say to her) and the two of them stopped to chat.

"Apologies for disappearing on ya," he set a bottle of a brilliant red substance down, "was talking to an old friend of mine."

"What's that?" Katniss eyed the bottle intently.

"Red Gold," Haymitch grinned, "some of the best stuff in Panem. Miriam Luxio from '40 really popularized it, and it's definitely worth it. She's a good woman too; an old drinking buddy of mine."

"You've got friends in District 1?" Katniss looked as if she hadn't even contemplated the idea.

"I mentioned before that most victors become friends over time. You might even be able to reconcile with Kazera tomorrow."  
"I don't think reconciliation happens that swiftly."  
"Well… you've got plenty of time to either love or hate them, sweetheart."  
"How so?"

"You're mentoring tributes from here on out; you remember that, right?"

Haymitch wasn't intending to be rude, but the statement did hit Katniss pretty hard. She would be the one that rode the train now, year after year until she could produce another victor. If she stuck with her district's record, that would mean she had another 25 years of this. To her, that was simply unacceptable. She hoped that her reputation and legacy would spur others from her district not to go down as easily as some of her predecessors. She thought back to the years leading up to Haymitch's games. District 12 needed more subversive rebels like Sophie, Zefira, Lynx, Kyla, Joss, Isikiro, Aralynn, Fenris, Hazel, Ariana, Iris, Haymitch, Laurel, or even Katniss herself. Maybe she would have something to invest her passion in after all.

She decided to unwind a little further by playing another round of Wicked Grace with Haymitch and popping open the bottle of Red Gold. Her night in District 1 was over; and for now she would stop worrying. The stop in District 2 tomorrow would be dealt with when the time came…


	25. Chapter 25: Blood on the Stone

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _This chapter actually got written a few hours after posting the last one, around 5:30AM, which is usually my best time to write. Anyways, Katniss' stop in District 2 is one of the darkest chapters in this story given some of the things she learns and the things that go down. Wallace and Winter were more than just tributes, but there's no need to spoil it._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 25: Blood on the Stone**

Despite them being her enemies as well during the games, Katniss felt about the same for the tributes of District 2 as she did for the ones from District 1. She was more intrigued by the types of victors that had surfaced from this district. Most notably, she wondered how she would handle Clove Kazera, who was still considered quite the wild little thing. She normally took sedatives, although carried extra needles on her person for those around her to use on her if she went ballistic again. Katniss wondered if she would see that for herself or if she'd be calm when guests showed up.

Winter and Wallace were slightly more personal to Katniss, particularly the former due to her being the last tribute to stand between her and victory. District 2 always seemed to be slightly stronger than District 1, but neither one had very many pushover tributes, all things considering. All in all, she was intrigued by what the relationship between most and least loyal districts to the Capitol would be upon her arrival, particularly as she reached that podium.

For the moment though, Katniss was lying in bed, soundly asleep. Her dreams were not necessarily pleasant, but she didn't wake up in a cold sweat this time either from a vivid traumatic memory or anything. Instead, she got up rather uneventfully and went to find Cinna. As soon as she was dressed for the day, she could get some breakfast and maybe slip a game of Red Maiden or Wicked Grace in with Haymitch before they pulled into District 2.

Katniss was much more satisfied with today's outfit than the one before. She was dressed very sharply with a blue coat and tan slacks, almost like a decorated soldier. She did look forward to when she could put her hair back down from the tight military-styled bun that Cinna had styled it into, but her own appearance was not really something Katniss took very much into consideration. Clothes were clothes and her hair could be styled or unstyled at her whim, essentially. She simply respected Cinna enough to cooperate with all the hard work he had put into the designs he made for her. Haymitch was right about that as well—play the Capitol's game for two weeks, and then it was over—at least until the next Hunger Games came around and she returned to the Capitol as a mentor. She'd worry about that when the time came. After her sojourn in the arena, she had a tendency to live day by day, to keep her stress levels down (especially considering how easily they went up otherwise).

"How far are we from '2, Effie?" Katniss asked her escort as she glanced around in anticipation for Haymitch. Effie smiled as she glanced over Katniss as she walked in, nodding her approval of Katniss' appearance.

"Less than an hour;" she replied, "I have your speech written and ready as well!"

"Thanks," Katniss nodded appreciatively. While she hoped Haymitch would get his lazy ass out of bed at least 5 minutes before the stop, she also took this alone time as time to ruminate. She remembered a year ago, when victor Clove Kazera came through her district and gave a speech in memoriam of her sister Primrose and her secret admirer Peeta Mellark. She wished she could have gotten to know him—his personality was one that greatly counterbalanced her own. Perhaps he could have brought some stability to her life, which she knew, despite her current composure, was a mess. What had she done with herself after winning the games besides drink and play card games? She still hunted every now and again, but that was because old habits died hard. She knew in her heart that she was an emotional wreck from losing her sister even 18 months after it had happened.

Her mind was briefly taken off of these subjects as Haymitch showed up for a few card games to take Katniss' mind off of her many concerns both regarding this district and regarding her everyday life, but because of the timing, they only got a few games in before the train pulled into the District 2 stop.

A horrifying surge of guilt washed cleanly over Katniss as she approached the podium though. Winter and Wallace, her two strongest enemies, had not been alone in their race for the games. She glanced out over the crowds to see two stages with large holographic images of Winter and Wallace. In front of Wallace's face was a young woman holding a baby. That man had been old enough to father a child. Katniss gritted her teeth to keep from racking herself with the guilt of realizing that she had slain that child's father. She diverted her eyes to the next focal point to take her mind away from it, but instead she saw a dour-looking young man with his hands in front of him. Her lower lips trembled as she noticed a glint from one of his hands—a wedding ring. It had to be. Katniss' own age made it easy for her to forget that these were not children that had been reaped or volunteered for the arena this year. These were adults who had thought they were long past the games. Winter had a husband. Wallace had a wife and child. Katniss realized that she was the one who tore both of these fledgling families apart 6 months ago, and now she was forced to face them.

It took the entirety of her willpower not to break down on the spot. She knew that she had faltered enough that some of the more observant people in the crowds probably realized she was close to losing it. Luckily for her, she stayed composed for the entirety of her speech, but shortly after being dismissed to the justice building she cried out, throwing herself into a corner and curling into a ball, rocking back and forth.

" _I killed them… I did that to them… they're gone because of me… I tore them apart… I killed them… I did that to them… they're gone because of me… I tore them apart…"_ she was trembling, repeating these words over and over as the horrifying reality of what she had done finally sunk in and hit home. Tarin and Titania had given her a false sense of security. Both of them were the same age as their District 2 counterparts, but both of them had been single. It had never occurred to Katniss that not everyone over 21 was still single until now. She knew what it was like to lose a parent; and could only image how horrible it must be to lose one's spouse.

" _It was me… It was me… It was me… It was me…"_

Vivid recollections of the final night in the arena flashed through Katniss' mind. Her hands clenched into fists, as if clutching a pair of daggers, and remembering vividly that she was the last person alive to see Winter—and she was the one that laid the blow that killed her. She glanced down at her hands and saw blood dripping from them, and gasped in horror. Her nightmares were literal right now.

She sprung up when she heard the door open, and practically threw her arms into the body of the one who had stepped in. To her relief, it was Haymitch, who actually looked genuinely uncomfortable as well seeing Katniss in such a frenzied state. He had barely opened his mouth to ask what was going on when Katniss's own mouth moved, answering the question right away.

" _I killed them… I did that to them… they're gone because of me… I tore them apart…"_

Haymitch remained frozen for a moment as he contemplated Katniss' words.

" _Shit… I've got nothing. No one else ever had to kill married tributes…"_ He thought to himself. He didn't know why that hit her so hard as opposed to killing someone's brother sister, son, or daughter, but he had no intention of arguing against Katniss' case. He held the trembling victor close, who had begun weeping uncontrollably into his chest.

The evening feast was no better. In fact, one single event made it a lot worse for Katniss. She had retreated to a corner out of sight and out of mind, but that did not stop a certain angry-faced woman and a baby from approaching her. Katniss tensed up immediately, expecting the verbal lashing of a lifetime. She even cringed as if expecting a physical blow, but instead, she simply took out a folded sheet of paper and slammed it on Katniss' table before walking away and muttering _"I have nothing to say"._ Hesitantly, Katniss sniffed it, wondering if it was a trap. Fortunately for her body, there was nothing physically harmful about the page. Unfortunately for her mental and emotional well-being, the image on the paper was probably the most terrifying thing she could have received.

A freakishly accurate depiction of Katniss herself graced the bulk of the image, dressed in her tribute uniform from the games. On her face was a wicked grin, her right hand raised as if in a display of power, but most noticeably, it was dripping with blood. The artist, Camilla Stone, had signed the image, as a hint that she had actually drawn it herself (and was Wallace's wife), but the real kicker that broke Katniss that evening was the caption at the top of the page.

" _Blood doesn't wash off, Katniss Everdeen."_


	26. Chapter 26: Military and Masonry

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Katniss is definitely not having a very good time out in District 2. It gets worse from here, but then gets slightly better. Those who have read the prequel to this story (The 74th Annual Hunger Games) might be aware that Clove was the victor that year, and as such, she's obviously somewhere around in District 2. In my later fics (91, 92, 93, 100) it's shown that Clove and Katniss are no longer enemies. This chapter helps explain how that happened and what it means. But enough of my self-advertisement. I've rambled long enough._  
 _Happy Reading~_

 **CHAPTER 26: Military and Masonry**

Katniss panicked and began to hyperventilate. There were no words that this woman could have uttered to her that could have devastated her and shattered what last semblance of stability she thought she had, more than the strikingly poignant drawing that she had just been given. Camilla Stone was enraged, and Katniss knew it. Camilla had all rights to be angry with her, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Katniss had not been proud of what she did, and even Wallace and Winter had both accepted their fates. They knew what they had had to do, and during their confrontations with Katniss, both parties understood that the loser would be killed. She glanced around for Haymitch; for anyone, really, but the only thing she saw that really caught her attention was the man that had been standing in front of Winter's face during the speech earlier. She winced again, muttering under her breath a desperate plea for peace.

" _Please don't make him do anything to me… please don't let him do anything to me…"_

She glanced around, but where could she run? He was approaching her, with something in his hand.

"Ms. Everdeen," he spoke her name, and Katniss shielded herself as if expecting a blow.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he reassured her. "I just wish for you to have this. It is… not as grotesque as what I see Camilla already gave you… but I no longer have a use for it."  
He placed a ring box in front of her before pivoting on his heel and leaving. Maybe this was some sort of passive-aggressive ritual, but whatever these two were doing was working really well at decimating any semblance of emotional stability Katniss thought she might have had. She could understand why they were angry, but really, that just made the guilt of killing them hurt more. These 'gifts' were making everything worse.

Inside the box was an empty slot for a ring and a small note.

 _Ringo,_

 _It's still crazy to believe the twist for the Quarter Quell… and right after our marriage too! I'm surprised that I made it to the stage, but I'm pretty sure I can win this thing. I figured my wedding ring would make a good tribute token. Soon I'll be home and we can start our new life together in the Victor Village, and I look forward to that as well._

 _Lots of love, ~Winter~_

Ringo and Camilla had just played Katniss like a wind-up toy. They had stabbed her where it hurt the most and twisted the rusty blade, as Katniss grieved over the realization that she had literally been the only thing that had stood in the way of Winter returning home and living out her dream with her newlywed husband. She had been what had been the one to slay Wallace, leaving his wife a widow with a youngster that would never remember her father. She was disgusted that they had resorted to such vile tactics against her, but at the same time, she felt that part of it was warranted. She felt sick to her stomach, and the illusion of blood on her hands seemed all too real right now.

Maybe it was because of this, but when a familiar freckled girl showed up a few minutes later, Katniss didn't seem as wary as she had with the other two.

"Are you here to kick me while I'm down too?" She mumbled drearily.

"Me? nah…" the freckled girl shook her head, "I'm an ass, but even I wouldn't stoop to this kind of a low. Seriously… this shit right here is messed up. I mean, I can understand why they're pissed… but they broke you the same way the games break people. They don't know what it's like."  
"You're taking my side?" Katniss looked up, realizing that it was in fact Clove Kazera, the victor of the 74th Hunger Games last year.

"Sure," Clove shrugged, "most victors, myself included, are a mess after our games and even on our tours. They don't know what it's like when a tribute acknowledges that the time has come for you to fight them to the death. They did not understand me when I squared off against Rue Keniye or Cato Salazar. They did not understand when you squared off against their spouses. I'm puzzled as to why they would resort to low-blow tricks like this, but I suppose it's to be expected."  
"Do you realize how much that terrified me?" Katniss shuddered, "they saw my weakness on the stage, and they jumped at it, twisting the knife."  
"Never underestimate what people will do in desperation," Clove frowned, "even the best of people can turn sour. They are not taking their losses well."

"And so they take it out on me?"  
"Wouldn't you want to take it out on the woman that killed your spouse?"

"But they volunteered! I did only what I had to in order to survive. I did not revel in their deaths. I tried to make them swift and painless as possible. I was only removing the obstacles that stood between me and survival, since by that point Vex was dead."

"It doesn't matter to them. Remember, Everdeen—you were pissed at me last year just because I was friends with my district partner, who happened to kill your sister."

Katniss fell silent, and Clove continued speaking.

"But the important thing is that no one apart from other victors understands your plight, and similarly, no one else is going to take your side. It's a harsh truth that drives many victors crazy. It worked on me. We don't get therapists; we have the victors that came before us, and that's about it."

Katniss sighed. That might have explained why she felt so attached to Haymitch after crawling out of the arena. District 12 didn't have a multitude of victors the way District 2 did, and suddenly Katniss was envious of them because of that.

"Also, neither Ringo nor Camilla are going to ever admit it, but they're more hurt about their losses than anything." Clove pointed out, "they didn't want to speak to you or even really look at you. The real thing they aren't telling you though is that they're just as soft on the inside as you—and cried about it just like you. Now, I'm not about to go and put you through another guilt trip like they did; I'm just letting you know both sides of the story."  
"Neither side is a pretty one." Katniss asserted. "And if people want me to be wracked with even more guilt than I already have, they've already won. There's no need to stab me while I'm still cringing from those same wounds."

Clove sighed, glancing at Katniss again. Both girls appeared to have aged considerably from their times in the games, even if Katniss was still only 17 and Clove was only 16.

"There was apparently a time or two when they had to call in Peacekeepers to prevent a victor from being attacked by angry members of a district," Clove remarked, "I'm not fully sure how true that is, but we in District 2 are disciplined enough to know better. On the other hand, do you realize what you've done that has '1 and '2 so defensive?"  
"I killed people. They did the same thing to my people for the last 24 years. Fates forbid if they get a little taste of their own medicine, huh?"  
"no; they're worried about you. You were the one that finally proved that District 12 could very well become a viable threat in the years to come. In theory they would be warier regardless of what district you're from though. They aren't fond of competition."  
"District 12 and District 11 have been allying with one another for years though."  
"And look how well that's worked out for them most years, Everdeen. The difference is that you've stirred people up. Peacekeepers that return here from trips in District 12, including my sister Chive, talk about how in the last half a year alone, the people have become fiercer and more stubborn, from the most grizzled adults all the way down the young children. You might not be trying to destroy the Capitol, but you've created a revolution of your own."

"I was just trying to survive." Katniss reasoned. "And that's going to remain my reasoning until the day I die. There's nothing anyone else can do or say about it that will sway me."  
"No one who understands what you've been through is trying to sway you." Clove smiled. "not even the staunchest victors from District 2. Sure it's a bummer that our tributes didn't make it on the year we don't win, but unfortunately, it takes winning the games and suffering through all that trauma for most of us here in District 2 to see it. I was a model career: volunteered, trained hard, was a bloodthirsty killer, and after my games, I felt like my purpose in life had just been accomplished—and after you win their games, the Capitol doesn't care about you. You're just another has-been who lives to mentor more tributes and continue the cycle"  
Clove took a deep breath and sighed. "Hang in there, Everdeen. You've got this."  
"Katniss' breath was shaky from the traumatic flashbacks that had just occurred, but she retained her composure. Clove was right. She was stronger than this, and knew that she would get back up from District 2—and not let District 3 tomorrow drag her down in turn, either.


	27. Chapter 27: Beyond the Careers

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _This is either the penultimate chapter or perhaps the one before it. Similar to in "Catching Fire", there's not much that happens in a lot of the middle districts, especially due to their tributes not really having major roles in the story, but obviously there's going to be a significant bit to see in District 11 when the time comes. Since Katniss has not become a notorious rebellion-figurehead, she might be able to slip under Capitol radar and not cause any trouble. However, we'll find that out most likely in the next chapter. In the meantime... chapter 27._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 27: Beyond the Careers**

Despite the rocky start and nearly troublesome ending that her stop in District 2 had, Katniss did not have any nightmares or further triggers for her panick attacks for the remainder of the evening, or that night as she slept while the train flew towards District 3. This would be the last of her most troublesome stops, since District 3's tributes were the last two members of the career alliance. This time instead of them being mad at her she was more worried about being upset at them; considering that it was Surge that had killed her best friend Vex in the arena. Her sojourn in District 2 had been particularly painful, and she had unpleasant dreams about the tributes that evening.

She was not sure how much she slept or when she woke up, but she remained motionless, lying on her side and gazing vacantly at the wall from her bed. Within a few hours, they would arrive in District 3 and the whole ritual from yesterday and the day before would repeat itself again. Hopefully it would be different this time around.

To her great relief, it actually was. The people of District 3, while they had produced plenty of victors (only trailing behind Districts 5, 1, and 2) and sometimes even volunteers (such as this year—for usually volunteer tributes from District 3 joined the career pack), they were not nearly as loyal to the Capitol's tyranny as Districts 1 and 2 were, and so to see a victor from one of the most rebellious districts of Panem was a sight for their sore eyes as well, even if it was not one of their own.

Katniss elected not to say anything of any note in her speech other than what Effie had scripted for her to say, not wishing to provoke anyone else. Apparently Surge had been married as well though, while Elsa had not been. It didn't hit her as hard as Winter and Wallace had, possibly because Katniss' grudge against Surge was something that remained. It was hard for her to handle Vex's death even half a year after the event. Something about that golden-haired woman had tickled Katniss' fancy in such a charming way that they had swiftly become friends.

Whatever the case, she was not met with hostile or angry family members after her speech, and the latest two victors, Zhin and Chip, were not hostile towards her either. She spent most of the evening with Haymitch throwing dice and taking shots, although she soon felt a pair of eyes boring into the back of her head. Maybe they were staring at the electric-green outfit that Cinna had put her in, or maybe it was something else. Instead, it was a small girl hardly older than 10 or 11 approached her. it wasn't anything neon, but the bright and vivid greens actually brought a smile to Katniss' face considering it was her favorite color.

"…can I help you?" Katniss did not recognize her, and she didn't seem to be accompanied by an adult or even any friends except maybe a slightly older girl (probably about 12) in the distance that was glancing their way. "I'm not sure we've met."  
"I'm Ikki Ortolani," the tiny girl beamed, "my mama and papa are teaching me how to become an electrician, but I really just came to congratulate you."  
"On what?" Katniss was half certain she knew the answer, but didn't want to start getting this kid into the idea of glorifying kill counts.

"On winning the games, of course!" Ikki unsurprisingly replied, "I bet it was hard, to outsmart that many people and get out of there."  
"It was," Katniss nodded, "and killing my enemies wasn't fun either. I don't recommend it at all. I was just doing what I had to in order to survive."

"Survival… got it." Ikki seemed to be mentally noting Katniss' remarks.

"Are you going to volunteer when you're older?" Katniss gave Ikki a nearly threatening look.

"Oh, no, no!" Ikki shook her head, "I'm way too young and definitely not as strong as someone like you! They'd probably clobber me! But… my big sister's name is in the Reaping now, and mine's gonna be in there in two years, for the 77th Hunger Games, I think. I don't think I'll get picked but if I did, I at least wanna get some hints from the strongest winner ever."

"how do you wager that?" Katniss was not sure how this youngster measured strength, especially since she seemed to be wise beyond her years.

"Well, you killed and outsmarted the most tributes before winning." She explained, "no one else has done anything like that before, and no one's had to face grown-ups like you did."

"Be careful then, and whatever you do, do NOT volunteer." Katniss asserted. "you're too sweet for that, kid. Even if you do escape the arena, there's no escaping what it does to you afterwards."  
Ikki looked genuinely concerned at Katniss' stern expression, and she nodded. "I won't. I promise."

Katniss actually gave Ikki little thought as she headed back to the train, now en route to District 4. Katniss was just a kid from District 12 that had won a death match. Ikki was a District 3 kid that had no real bearing on Katniss' life and vice-versa. She did not expect that much would come from their conversation, although she would hate to see a kid that small and young get dragged off to the arena in a couple years and slaughtered in the opening seconds.

Whatever the case, District 4 was an interesting departure from the last three stops. While Kale and Kiera had not been part of the career pack, they too had viewed Katniss as a formidable threat. She threw in a few personal words for them during her speech, indicating that they might have been friends under any other circumstances.

The feast that evening was held outdoors, since the power was actually out for most of the evening. This stop was actually a nice departure from what she was used to, and the presence of Finnick helped in the situation. He was accompanied this time by a slightly deranged looking woman that Katniss recognized as Annie Cresta, a more recent victor that had gone insane, as a few victors sometimes did. Katniss was glad that she had not suffered that fate. If Finnick was this consoling to Annie, then it was hardly a wonder why speaking to him back at the Tribute Tower 6 months ago had been so relaxing.

He found her alone in a corner where she usually was, and after a comment on her outfit, which showed off a bit more skin than some of her earlier ones (although not provocatively so), they stopped to talk.

"How's victor life treating you, Kitkat?" he quipped, popping a sugar cube into his mouth. She wondered if that was just his thing or if he had deliberately obtained some just to speak to her.

"I hate it," Katniss had no trouble admitting her true feelings on the matter. "I had a trauma attack in District 2 and I'll probably have at least one or two more before this trip is over."  
"That's normal." Finnick shrugged, "I'm sure Abernathy's told you that too, hasn't he?"  
"Aye; but it doesn't make it any easier." Katniss retorted.

"Don't break then," Finnick warned, "show them you're stronger than that. You don't want to break."  
"I don't want to break," Katniss nodded in agreement. "I'm doing what I can…"

Ultimately this conversation was short-lived, but it was just the push that Katniss needed. It did not stop her from having a rather traumatic evening on the train that night due to flashbacks, but it helped strengthen her resolve.

Luckily for Katniss, District 5 itself was nothing out of the ordinary as far as her visits went. It was similar to District 3 except with more Capitol loyalty. However, these mysterious citizens seemed to prefer sticking to themselves, which Katniss respected, being the same way herself. Barring the flashback on the train that morning (or the previous evening, rather), this stop went over well and Katniss stayed calm when all was said and done and she was back on the train.

District 6 had Katniss nearly in a frenzy later that night after someone spiked her drink, but she had not been able to find the culprit. Haymitch accused a certain Dezna Meraxa, a victor who was also a famous narcotics dealer in the district along with his sister. He actually wound up confessing innocence, and the panick attack that Katniss suffered that evening was more due to her own trauma rather than by one of the Meraxa twins' drugs.

District 7 saw nothing so horrific, and Katniss did not have much to say about these tributes either. They, similar to District 3, were rather rebellious in nature, although compared to what Katniss would face the next day, were relatively tame. District 8 was probably the most anti-Capitol district in Panem, barring perhaps District 12. She managed to keep a level head here, although that evening, she suffered her most vivid flashback of the arena, where she had to watch Vex die again, helpless to prevent it. Vex should have won the games, not her. Katniss still lived by that mindset even half a year later.

Thankfully, District 9 did not present any difficulties for Katniss, nor did District 10. She was worried about her penultimate stop, however. District 11 was Vex's district, and she knew from that alone, that this stop would be probably the most personal one on her entire tour…


	28. Chapter 28: The Final Journey Home

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _After just over a year of writing this story, it finally comes to an end! Like some of my other fanfics, there might be a couple of bonus 'epilogue' chapters that appear after this one, but for all intents and purposes, this chapter marks the finale and conclusion of 'The 75th Annual Hunger Games'. here we got to see Katniss cross paths with past victors even if it was not in the arena, and she also crossed paths with a couple of future victors. The revolution has not yet occurred, and the victors are still safe at home rather then getting killed by their brethren in the arena. Thanks to everyone who patiently stood with me waiting for this story to become complete. Maybe someday there'll be a sequel, or maybe I'll skip a year. No promises yet though, In the meantime, feedback of any kind is always appreciated and encouraged, and here we are with the final chapter of another completed story.  
Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 28: The Final Journey Home**

Katniss knew that she had to make this speech personal as their train raced towards District 11. She was no charismatic speaker for sure, but Haymitch had pointed out that when she spoke from her heart she was quite the spirited individual. Perhaps trying to write down the words she would say in honor of Vex Greenwood was not necessary.

"Just be careful," Haymitch warned as they ate breakfast and played their morning dice games, "'11 and '12 have rioted over less. You've seen it happen."  
"I don't want anyone else to die," Katniss nodded, "I just want to get through today without completely losing it." She was not too worried about the stop in the Capitol the following evening. At worst, she'd get confronted by President Snow for being from the most notoriously rebellious district, and at best she'd get overlooked completely and left to her own devices. Her stop in District 12 after that wouldn't be too hard either. Levi hadn't been much to her, but he was from home.

The brown dress Cinna put her in for the stop in District 11 reminded her of home in all the right ways. She wasn't worried about a hostile reception here; instead she was more worried about her own emotions getting the best of her. She really hoped that Vex had not been married.

Vex was in fact single, but she did have quite the family. She was the eldest of five children, and three of her surviving siblings looked to be of age for the Hunger Games (the one she presumed was the 2nd eldest looked about 19 or 20). She surprisingly still had both her parents, and she could definitely see Vex in her father's hairstyle and facial structure. Vex's eyes were shaped like her mother's, but were blue like her father's. The blonde hair had definitely come from her mother, but even then, the whole family had much lighter skin that most of the usual stock District 11 produced.

Jackson's family was smaller, with only a brother and a sister on his stage, and it was hard to gauge where he had fit in, in that lineup. Katniss knew her time to speak had come, however, and so there was no more eyeing the crowds. Instead she focused on the image of Vex behind her family, which soothed her to an extent, almost as if she was here right now.

" _Don't worry about it, Everdeen. I know you're strong enough to do this…"_

Katniss knew it wasn't actually Vex's voice, and that this was little more than her own mind playing tricks on her, but it was reassuring nonetheless.

"I'm sure all of you are aware of how Vex Greenwood was my ally in the 'games." Katniss began after a moment of silence, "And even here; even now, I stand by my assertion that she should have won the games and not me. Vex was a strong ally; a powerful and dangerous warrior… but most of all, she was my friend. I tried to deny it because of the nature of the games, but despite my greatest efforts, I couldn't deny that Vex had become my best friend in that arena. I miss her as much as you do in that regard. I did not get to know her friend Jackson as well as Vex, but Vex always spoke highly of him, and I know that his death was another major loss for the good people of District 11."  
Katniss' speech continued after this manner and in a very heartfelt and sincere way. She was almost crying by the time she finished, and ultimately received thunderous applause. Obviously the people of District 11 were not pleased with the deaths of their own, but this was their way of showing solidarity without arousing Capitol suspicion. All in all, it was a façade that worked when all was said and done.

The rest of the evening went fairly well, although Katniss did cry a bit by herself for a while. Victors Varric Svenja and his mother Sagittaria (also a victor) joined Seeder Howell and Chaff Mitchel in reassuring Katniss that the citizens of District 11 welcomed people like her.

These simple gestures prevented Katniss from having any serious panick attacks on the train ride to the Capitol that evening. While she was not by any means fond of the people there for the atrocities some of them committed against the Districts (including the Hunger Games themselves), she knew that she was not in any danger here. At worst, she'd get scorned for not dressing extravagantly enough, but she knew that with a man like Cinna working on her, that she was in good hands.

"I figure we'll go with something simplistic but powerful this time," he told her the following afternoon as they prepared to reach the Capitol that evening, "what say you, Girl on Fire?"  
A soft smile encroached Katniss' visage as she realized what Cinna was hinting at. Sure enough, by the time they had pulled into the Capitol, Katniss was clad in a fiery-red dress that produced little flamelike effects from the hem of the skirts and sleeves with each step she took. It was definitely simplistic in contrast to a lot of the outfits around her (including Effie's garish pink attire), but it got the job done. Katniss was not normally one for makeup either, but Cinna did to her the same thing he did to himself in that regard: minimalistic coloring for maximum effect. This man was an expert.

Other than sampling dozens of different dishes and desserts that she had never even heard of before, and remaining disdainful at the Capitol's gluttony while people in her district were literally starving, Nothing really eventful happened to Katniss that evening. Plenty of it was out of the ordinary for her, but Haymitch, Effie, and even Cinna had all told her what to expect, and so when they turned out to be correct, Katniss was thus unsurprised. Haymitch did briefly make himself scarce as Coriolanus Snow approached Katniss during the feast. This *was* his mansion after all, and so the odds of the President of Panem being here were basically confirmed.

His words, however, almost counterbalanced the smell of blood and roses that Katniss sensed on him as he got close enough—almost.

"Congratulations, Ms. Everdeen," he smiled. Katniss was not sure if it was supposed to be a sinister smile or if it was sincere. It intimidated her either way, but she stood her ground. "…Both for a game well-won and a victory tour well-performed." He pinned one of his white roses to Katniss' chest before returning to mingle with the crowds again. Katniss didn't know what to make of it, but as soon as the president was out of view, she removed the rose and went to find Haymitch.

"I think he's probably just trying to exude authority again," Haymitch reassured her, "don't think much about it, unless he said anything other than congratulations."  
"That's all he told me," Katniss shrugged.

"Then count your lucky stars. You're safe for now."

Katniss didn't have a reply for this, and instead just somberly nodded. She knew what had happened to Haymitch's family, and had always feared what would happen to hers if she had ever crossed the Capitol. Now that her mother was all but gone and the rest of her friends and family were dead, she cared a lot less about that—and about everything in general. Haymitch and the wilderness were some of the few things that gave her solace these days, and so at this point, she was looking forward to tomorrow. There would be no more train rides after that; only Effie, Cinna, and the camera teams returning to the Capitol that evening as Katniss remained undisturbed for another 6 months. She could live with that.

The stop in District 12 was not much of note. The victory feast was greatly welcomed in an impoverished district that experienced hunger and starvation on a regular basis, and Katniss's parting words to Levi were given a bit of a personal touch. Like she had mentioned earlier, he was not much to her; but he was still part of home. Ultimately, after all those panick attacks and the rather unpleasant experiences she had endured in Districts 1, 2, and 3, Katniss was glad to be home. It was nice to meet some of the older victors, but she'd see them year after year at this point, now that she was replacing Haymitch as the mentor for District 12. She thought of little Ikki Ortolani; wondering if she was being truthful when she promised not to volunteer. She thought of President Snow's words, and wondered if she had missed a hidden meaning to them.

Whatever the case, she let all that go this evening. The games were over, the tour was over, and now it was time to drink the night away over a game or two of Wicked Grace or Red Maiden. The 75th Annual Hunger Games was over now, and Katniss was safe at home. She was without a doubt a changed woman (probably for the worse), but she had survived and become stronger even if she was less stable than she had been before. The worst of her troubles were over, now. As for anything that came her way… she would be ready for it. She always would be…


	29. Epilogue--Chapter 29: Embracing Reality

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Sure enough, there's an epilogue chapter, and there might be one more (I don't think there will be than two in total though). Unlike some of my other fics, I don't really have any plans for the 76th Hunger Games in the near future since they're one of the less intense games (according to the future chapter of my oneshot collection at least). I might skip them and do the 77th games because of the victor, but that's also a ways off if it does happen. In the meantime, we get further cameos from Wesley and Aveline, which in turn explains why Aveline in particular becomes close to Katniss in the 91st Hunger Games. until then, here's a bit more of how Katniss Everdeen adjusts to life back home. Also... she can dance. Thanks again for all the patience and support. Reviews and feedback are always welcome, as always._  
 _And of course, Happy Reading!_

 **PART IV: EPILOGUE—LIFE BACK HOME**

 **CHAPTER 29: Embracing Reality**

Time continued in its usual fashion, moving forward without relent as each new day replaced the one before it. Katniss was overly familiar with this ritual, and took each day as it was handed to her, usually spending her time out in the wilderness shooting at things or just wandering its vast expanse. Even before going to the arena, she was still a survivalist at heart and could have easily taken up the mantle of mentor for future Hunger Games tributes in a heartbeat. It was not a job she would ever volunteer to do, and yet here she was, nearly a year later, after having volunteered for the Hunger Games itself and then emerged a broken, but still living, victor.

Originally Katniss used to wonder why Haymitch slept with a knife under his pillow every night, even if it had been decades since his Hunger Games. After becoming a victor herself, she now understood why. Not only did she sleep with knives nearby, but she often slept with one of her hands gripped around the handle of a blade.

To her and too many other victors, they still felt like they were under attack, and that their life was in danger or was teetering on the brink of life and death. It was not uncommon for them to wake up in a cold sweat clutching the knife and going in swinging. Haymitch had told Katniss a few times that she was rather loud when she had panick attacks, but since it was only him and her (and Katniss' mother) in the Victor Village, no one else really knew about it and Haymitch never bothered to do anything about it except sometimes invite Katniss over for a drink or some cards later that morning.

Katniss' mother was basically just a ghost at this point, living her life quietly and somberly, either ignoring the world around her or simply oblivious to it. Katniss was a changed woman who was distant and hostile to most, and the rest of her family and friends had all died. She slept in the opposite side of the mansion from Katniss, partially because of the noise and also because Katniss could genuinely be threatening if someone came into her room when she was panicking.

Katniss had not entirely been thrilled about the Capitol requesting her to take up a hobby shortly after she had won her games, since she couldn't exactly put archery or hunting as her hobbies and skills. Publicly, she had gone into music, capitalizing on her own singing voice, even if she very rarely displayed it to anyone. However, often when she was out in the wilderness and there wasn't any good hunting that day, Katniss would dance, expressing herself through movements when she was at a loss for words. Charisma and eloquence had never been her strong suits, and as long as that kept her from being *too* desirable in the eyes of the Capitol, she was quite fine with keeping it that way. On the other hand, the routines she choreographed and performed on whims were actually rather impressive. Haymitch was one of the only other people who knew about it. He had gotten it out of her once after she had had a few too many drinks, and had seen it in person after winning a bet against Katniss in a few games of cards. Despite not showing this ability to anyone else, she was rather talented, her lightning reflexes and lithe body enabling her to flawlessly transition from one move or position to the next.

Gale worked 6 days a week in the mines, and was usually busy or asleep by the time Katniss showed up. He had a family to take care of, and while sometimes Katniss donated a share or two of her stipend to him and the Hawthornes, their contact lessened significantly with each passing day. The only other person besides Haymitch that Katniss really kept any contact with was Naisha Togisala. She had meant to go hunting to drop a few catches off at Naisha's house, but when she went, she realized that this was one of the few times the fence was electrified, and knew better than to chance it.

Despite turning up empty handed, Naisha was not disappointed, and hugged Katniss as if she were her mother, when in reality she was only a few years older than her. Her two little children, Wesley and Aveline, were also there to greet her, Wesley toddling in on two shaky little feet, and Aveline crawling in shortly after him.

"Sorry I wasn't able to bring you anything this time," Katniss apologized, "I've got the money for you though. Hell knows I don't need it."

"You've already done so much for me and my family," Naisha sighed, "I feel horrible in knowing that I can never repay you for your kindness and generosity."

"Don't worry about it," Katniss took a seat, watching the tiny children in front of her play with each other. It was clear that if they continued like this, that they would grow up to be two peas in a pod with how close they were. "I drop a few coins over at the Hawthornes, and other than them the only other person I really care about is Haymitch." It went unsaid that Haymitch was nearly as wealthy as Katniss—perhaps not quite so due to his binge-spending on alcohol (especially given that Katniss usually helped herself to it as well any time she dropped by), but Katniss never needed to give or even loan Haymitch any money, and so when she wasn't spending it on things for herself and her minimalist attitude, she was donating a great deal of her stipend to someone who could actually put it to practical use.

"That does not mean I can't be grateful though," Naisha reasoned, leaving her kitchen to come join Katniss in the living room with the small children.

"I never said you couldn't be," Katniss quipped, "just that you never need to worry about paying me back for any of this—ever."

"You're the shining example of what I wish for my children to be," Naisha was not trying to butter Katniss up nor do any type of brown-nosing or ass-kissing. She knew that Katniss' donations would continue because it had been Katniss' stubbornness which had allowed it to happen in the first place. Naisha initially refused the extra services and money considering that she already literally owed Katniss her life for volunteering in her stead for the 'games, but Katniss was resoundingly stubborn and refused to leave the abode until Naisha relented.

She never really discussed the subject with anyone, but there was a part of Katniss that wanted children, especially as she watched the two little black-haired children interact. Wesley was always watching out for her curious little baby sister, whose recent mobility had made her that much more curious about the world around her. On the other hand, Katniss was terrified of the concept of having a family not only because that would require getting to know someone more her age, but also because as she watched the two play, she realized that in 15 or 16 years, they could very well find themselves at the end of a blade in a death arena somewhere. Katniss hated the idea of imagining either of these kids being subjected to such a horrific fate, and so the idea of her own flesh and blood being shipped off to die was something that terrorized her thoughts.

"Just don't ever let them volunteer for the 'games," Katniss warned.

"I would never," Naisha shook her head, "my life flashed before my eyes the day I heard my name called, Katniss. I would never wish that on my children—or anyone for that matter. You didn't deserve to have to suffer through that either, Katniss."

"It's over now though," Katniss whispered, "and while I still bear the scars, I like to try and at least do a little good with my rewards. Stay strong, Naisha; and thanks for lending me your time."

Like many introverts, Katniss needed time alone to recharge after socializing, and so after bidding Naisha a polite farewell (and lightning her purse to help the Togisala family) she returned to the Victor Village and took a glance at Haymitch's door. He and Katniss put colored signs on their front doors as indicators of where they were and how welcome guests were. Red meant 'do not disturb', green meant 'knock' I might be busy or not be home', and blue meant 'come right in'.

The sign on her own door was green considering her trip, but Haymitch had put a blue mark on his door, so Katniss practically kicked it open to rendezvous with her old mentor.

"Everdeen!" Haymitch was dressed and cooking himself dinner, but that hadn't stopped Katniss' sudden entrance from surprising him. "Here to drink my booze and pay me back for it?"  
"Since when did I pay you back?" Katniss jabbed.

"Considering you've been on a losing streak the past three times, it's been enough for me to buy replacement spirits for the ones you drink."

"Bah, maybe we should throw some dice too. If nothing else I can blame it all on luck."  
"Just don't start playing against too many mentors in a couple month when the games kick off again," Haymitch quipped, "they might not be so merciful."  
"Don't remind me;" Katniss groaned as she took the nearest spirit from Haymitch's shelf and fired the cork in his direction before drinking a lengthy swig straight from the bottle, "I hate people enough already as things stand."  
"Being bitter and cynical is in the job description," Haymitch chuckled, "you'll do fine."

Katniss was not so sure about that remark, but at the same time, she really couldn't argue. She did not have many friends, but also didn't feel like she needed very many. She had the ones she cared about, and she protected them valiantly. While the lives of the tributes she would mentor would eventually fall out of her hands and go beyond her control, she would do what she could to protect them in the upcoming months when the names of two more victims were chosen in the 'games. It was extremely rare that tributes from the same district won back-to-back, and so while Katniss feared the worst this upcoming year, she knew that she had friends that could offer her at least a little bit of solace. It helped a lot more than she admitted too, no less…


	30. Epilogue--Chapter 30: Friends in Places

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _I warned a while ago that there might be another epilogue chapter of this fic, and sure enough, there is. This one, however, I am positive is the final chapter in the series, so there's no need to keep your eyes peeled for yet another epilogue chapter after this one. This one just kind of ties everything together. Katniss meets a few new people, and we get a few references to the events of the books that this AU does not foll, so there's also a bit of that. Katniss also meets a boy who has a significant role in one of my later fics, but I won't spoil it._  
 _Happy Reading!_

 **CHAPTER 30: Friends in Level Places**

There was a clearing not too far beyond the fence of District 12 that saw a lot more use than the Capitol was aware of. While it was the hunting ground for Gale Hawthorne, Katniss Everdeen, and a few other bold souls willing to risk the (sometimes) electrified fence to hunt game or forage for food in an otherwise fairly scantily-provided-for district.

Incidentally, other times Katniss would use this particular clearing to dance; moving her body to music unheard as the stars above her served as her audience, and her rhythm emerged from the whispering of the wind in the trees and flowers. She had always enjoyed being alone, and that mindset had only intensified after winning the games. There was no one else that could understand her plight except Haymitch, and he was so much older than her that even he sometimes had a difficult time relating. Well, either that or he was just too drunk. She used to look at that habit of his with disdain, but after her own games, she took it right up alongside him, and so she no longer had any room to talk.

There was another woman in District 12 that Katniss called her friend, however, although they did not speak often of this friendship simply because neither of them were women of very many words.

As such, when she heard this woman's voice during her otherwise silent dance, she jumped, but did not get angry like she might have with anyone else.

"Naisha!?" She stammered, "What are you doing all the way out here? Who's watching Wes and Ava?"

"I felt inspired to come here," Naisha responded calmly, "you are a very graceful dancer, Katniss."

"I get people telling me I'm an even better singer," Katniss quipped, "although I hate showing anyone either of those talents because no one seems to appreciate it anymore."  
"I remember your voice," Naisha corrected her, "and I've loved it from the first time I heard it. As for Wes and Ava, I have someone watching them. There's little activity in '12 this time of night."

"Well, as much as I hate people, I'd hate if anything happened to them, you hear?"

"As would I; their deaths would break a mother's heart. I think seeing them return from the 'games even…" she trailed off, and Katniss frowned.

"I've made a lot of mistakes, Naisha," she sighed, "most of which I am not so proud of. I sometimes stop and think to myself how things could have been different. If I hadn't been detained two years ago during the 74th Hunger Games… what might have happened? Would I have died in the arena, or would I have emerged a victor instead of Clove? Would I have been able to save Peeta Mellark, or would I have sacrificed myself for him? Could I have bent the rules of the games themselves and brought us both home somehow?"  
"Now there's a thought," Naisha raised an eyebrow. "A terrifyingly audacious thought, but a thought nonetheless. I can only imagine what kind of outrage that would spark in the Capitol. But how would you do it in a hypothetical situation?"  
"Well… I dunno," Katniss shrugged, "maybe I could have threatened to commit suicide or something. Maybe I should have done a better job at keeping Vex alive, and had the two of us threaten to kill ourselves so that the Capitol would have no victor. Would they settle for that, or would we have gotten our way? Shit like this is what keeps me awake at night, Naisha."

"I feel like there's more than that sort of thing which keeps you awake, Katniss," Naisha shook her head as she reached into her bag, "although I brought you something on that note; catch."  
Even in the dim light, Katniss noticed the bottle flying towards her as Naisha casually tossed it. She seized it and glanced at it under the bright moon to see what it held: whiskey.

"Glorious," Katniss' face almost lit up as she popped the cork and took a long draught. "Thank you."

"You've told me about the nightmares you suffer from," Naisha sighed, "and I know that I'm not your mother, but I care for you like a daughter."

"More than I can say about my own mother," Katniss shrugged one shoulder, "but really, I didn't understand how traumatized she was by my dad's loss till we lost Prim. She's not much more than a shadow now, and I can understand why. It's a fate I wish upon no one."

"I always knew you were a good person at heart," Naisha smiled, "I will unlikely ever leave your debt, Katniss, but I want you to know that I am here for you in whatever way I can be."  
"Honestly…" Katniss began, taking another swig of whiskey before sighing again, "That means more than you think it does. Haymitch is a good guy, and Gale's not bad, but Gale doesn't understand what the games are like…"  
"Neither do I…" Naisha reminded her in what was nearly an interruption.

"But you don't shift it over to your problems or try to generalize it like he sometimes does. For Gale, most of the conversations turn towards anger towards the Capitol. I mean sure that's justified, but sometimes, I just want someone to listen to me. I'll listen to them even. Haymitch is pretty good at that most of the time, but he's also a drunken idiot half the time whose speech becomes incomprehensible. By contrast, you're stone-cold sober and always willing to lend an ear."  
"You saved my life and my babies," Naisha reasoned, "it's the least I could do!"

"Well again… thanks." Katniss sighed. They spent the next little while mostly in silence as Katniss gradually finished her whiskey, and eventually the two women parted ways and went home.

The next few days weren't anything remarkable, although Katniss did at one point run into a boy at the Hob who was a shrewd trader. Katniss was impressed by his wit that she actually gave pause.

"What's your name, boy?" She was more curious than disdainful.

"Vigo," the boy replied, "Vigo Zakatau." His skin was dark like a lot of the visitors of the Hob and residents of the Seam, but similar to a lot of the wilder tributes of the district, his face was decorated with a few red lines on either side of his cheeks.

"You from the Painted Village?" Katniss was familiar with the dark reputation of the kids there. A lot of them took out tesserae even if they weren't necessarily poor, and while they were not necessarily victors too often, they were notorious for being freighting tributes in the Hunger Games."  
"Nah, though I play with some of the kids from there sometimes," Vigo explained, "they get a little too violent sometimes though."

"You're not thinking about going into the games, are you?" Katniss wanted to make sure no one got that idea, because it was always far worse than any of them ever dreamed it being.

"Nope," Vigo shook his head, "I mean, if it happens, it happens, but I'm not going to volunteer or anything. I enjoy living my life, thank you."  
Katniss nodded approvingly. She liked this boy for his sharp wit and level-headed stance on life and the games and other such things.

"It's good to see you again though, Everdeen," Vigo continued, "Not very many of us see you outside of your house unless you're trading game or jumping the fence."  
"I'm not a people person," Katniss shrugged, "you know that."  
"Well sure," Vigo shrugged a shoulder, "but the people of '12 still look up to you. You're a role model. Even the Peacekeeper Chive Kazera likes you. She just doesn't want to visit you out of fear that it might bring unpleasant memories back."

"That's… actually good to know." Katniss reminded herself to pay this 'Chive' woman a visit if she could.

"Just remember:" Vigo reminded her, "Not everyone who views you as a hero or a role model wants to volunteer or rush into the 'games. For a lot of us you're just a symbol of hope and of strength; a reminder that the Capitol can't really fully break us all the way out here in '12. Maybe someday we'll be able to end the cycle. A lot of people think it could happen with the right person at the helm."  
"I'll keep my eye out for such a person then," Katniss promised, "Because it's definitely not me."  
"That's fair," Vigo smirked approvingly. "Thanks for the chat."

Perhaps Katniss didn't hate people as much as she thought. There were still decent people to be found in Panem, at least in District 11 and District 12, and she knew a few of them. Vigo's remarks about Chive, however, were a reminder to her that she had one more person she needed to visit.

She checked Peacekeeper duty rosters for the first time in her life later that evening, and managed to cross paths with Chive only two days later.

"Well isn't this a surprise," the Peacekeeper removed her helmet to reveal a freckled woman very similar in appearance to Clove, only with shorter, light hair and green eyes. She was also much taller than Clove was. "What does the great Katniss Everdeen want with me, hmm? Just remember that I'm not my sister." Technically neither she nor Clove were to blame for Prim's death anyways.

"I just wanted to say thanks." Katniss nodded. "I've heard of your reputation in the district, but never got to actually see you in person."  
"Well… I'm not going anywhere," Chive chortled, "apart from a few breaks my next 20 years or so are committed to this job. I like it here. I like the attitude here even."  
"The attitude, hmm?" Katniss mused, realizing what this meant. No wonder Vigo spoke positively of Chive. Perhaps it was time to calm herself down a bit. She had turned so bitter and hostile after winning the games and losing everyone she held dear that she overlooked the fact that there were still good people in the world. She was not about to become a socialite and an extrovert overnight by any means, but she decided she might try to mingle with people at least a little more often. If nothing else, the few people that she could call her close friends deserved that from her. Gale and Haymitch were two of them, but also Naisha and her children, and even Chive. Perhaps maybe even Vigo Zakatau could be a worthwhile acquaintance. Time would tell.

The scars were permanent; the nightmares would probably not ever fully stop. Katniss would just have to learn to cope with both of these aspects. However, the more she left the Victor Village, the more she realized that while there might not have been any actual therapists in District 12, that she had friends who cared for her well-being and were happy to help her if they could. Haymitch, Naisha, even Chive… People like them were perhaps the reason Katniss clung to her sanity and was not fully broken. And since she was not fully broken, she knew that perhaps someday she would be able to recover. She'd deal with her trials as she needed to, but until that point, she would remain strong, come what may…


End file.
